STATE OF TASMANIA v ARIF ALI MOHAMED-GAMAR 18 MARCH 2022
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE ESTCOURT J
The defendant Arif Ali Mohamed-Gamar aged 25 at the time of the offending has pleaded guilty to four counts of dealing with property when there were reasonable grounds to suspect the property was the proceeds of crime and to one count of attempting to commit that crime.
The offending involved transactions being placed online using stolen or fraudulent credit cards by an unknown third person (or persons). It is not asserted that the defendant was making those transactions. The defendant had become familiar with a male known to him as ‘Ayoup’ through other acquaintances. The defendant was told that ‘Ayoup’ resided in Western Australia and was a “kind of broker” who could get items for him at a cheaper price. The defendant says that he utilised ‘Ayoup’s’ services to obtain or attempt to obtain the items which make up the counts on the indictment. The State is not in a position to dispute those assertions and of course the defendant has pleaded guilty to all counts on the indictment, so the State’s assertion as to his state of mind are clearly correct.
In respect of the first count on the indictment on 10 January 2020 a person identified as “Blair Kingsland” placed an order for an ‘El Chapo’ Barber’s chair from the Barber Chair Supply Co., a Queensland based company. The cost of the chair was $2,190.00 and with shipping costs the total cost of the order was $2,340.00.
On 5 February the defendant attended the depot of Tasfreight and collected the chair. He read out the consignment number from his mobile telephone and signed the paperwork under the name of ‘Ali Osman’.
On 7 February 2020 the owner of the Barber Chair Supply Co. received a chargeback request and had $2,340.00 withdrawn from the business account due to Westpac Bank determining that the transaction was fraudulent.
The defendant in fact paid $800.00 in respect of the chair to “Ayoup” through cardless cash transaction.
As to the second and third counts, on 12 April 2020 an online click and collect order was placed at Bunnings Warehouse in Glenorchy for one Makita Angle Grinder and a 25 pack of Irwin cut off wheels. The total value of this order was $351.99 and it was purchased using a credit card in the name of ‘Auriel Wolfe’. On 13 April 2020 the defendant attended Bunnings and collected the order.
He had previously arranged with ‘Ayoup’ that in return for the angle grinder and cut off disks the defendant would facilitate a transaction for ‘Ayoup’ relating to, a compound saw.
On 13 April 2020 an online click and collect order was placed at Bunnings Warehouse again in Glenorchy for a Makita Compound Saw. The total cost of this order was $1,029.00. Again the purchase was made using Mrs Wolfe’s credit card and her details were provided. On 14 April 2020 the defendant attended Bunnings Glenorchy and collected this order. Subsequently the defendant facilitated a transfer of this item where a person attended his address and collected the saw.
In March or early April 2020 the defendant advised ‘Ayoup’ he wanted a tyre changer and an impact wrench kit. The defendant did not give ‘Ayoup’ any money for those items, instead he was asked to collect a box with unknown contents from an address in Lutana and take it back to his own address. A person then collected the box from him.
On 14 April 2020 Supercheap Auto in Cambridge Park received an on-line ‘Click and Collect’ order for a SCA tyre changer and an impact wrench kit. The cost of this order was $380.00. The order was again placed using Mrs Wolfe’s credit card and her personal details were provided.
Later that day Mrs Wolfe was contacted by Supercheap Auto to advise that her order was ready for collection. Mrs Wolfe checked her credit card statement and realised her credit card statement and realised her card had been used to purchase things online. She rang the store and advised staff that her credit card had been fraudulently used.
At approximately 12:40pm the defendant entered the store to collect the order on behalf of his ‘boss’ according to him. The front register operator alerted the store manager who spoke to the defendant and advised him that he would need some identification to collect the order. The defendant stated he had no identification. The store manager contacted his Head Office and Tasmania Police.
On the fifth count, on 7 April 2020 a male who identified himself as ‘Nicolas ANNE’ called a company known as Rhino 4X4, and ordered a Rhino 4X4 Evolution Front winch bar that was colour coded with a stainless steel mid-section for a Ford Ranger vehicle. The total cost of this order was $2,785.00 and it was paid for by credit card over the phone. On 16 April 2020, the winch bar was delivered to, an address in Lutana.
On 27 April 2020 Rhino 4X4 received a fraud chargeback request against that transaction after it was identified as fraudulent.
On 13 July 2020 Sam Burrows was browsing Facebook Marketplace when he noticed a Rhino 3D bull bar for sale Negotiations were had with the defendant and the defendant agreed to sell it for $1,400.00.
On 4 June 2020 Tasmania Police attended an address in Lenah Valley with a search warrant.. A search warrant was conducted but no items of interest were located at that address.
Police then received information that an item of interest was located at a shed at an address in Moonah. A search warrant was obtained and a search of the property occurred. The El Chapo Barber’s chair and a Makita angle grinder were located and seized.
The total value of the property with which the defendant dealt or attempted to deal was $6,885.99.
The Crown makes an application pursuant to s 11(a) of the Crime (Confiscation of Profits) Act 1993 for an order pursuant to s 16 of that Act that the El Chapo Barber’s Chair and the Makita Angle Grinder seized by police on 4 June 2020 be forfeited to the State of I adjourn that application to a date to be fixed.
The defendant has some relevant prior convictions for relatively minor offences of dishonesty when he was 17 and 18 for which he was cautioned by police and required to undertake 10 hours of community service respectively.
The defendant is now 26 years of age, is single and has no children. He was born in the Sudan and lived with his family in a refugee camp in Eritrea for four years from age 7 to 11. He was abused in the camp. The family then came to Tasmania.
Although he was bullied when he attended school and found it difficult in assimilating he finished high school and completed a year of college.
A sense of isolation from others around him combined with being a sensitive and high functioning individual and coming from a background of trauma led to significant mental illness.
He became involved with drugs after moving to Perth at age 20 He fell in with drug using acquaintances and began to self-medicate with alcohol, cannabis and methamphetamine
He returned to Tasmania in 2018 for the support of his family but he continued to struggle. He was admitted to hospital in September 2020 for the first time and was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, psychosis and schizophrenia
Has a very supportive family comprising of his mother and father and four sisters. His father runs his own business and his mother stopped work in order to care for the defendant for much of 2021.
The defendant successfully engaged in the mental health diversion court with magistrate Maron for much of 2021. This ended in November 2021 with no further order being made for a breach of a suspended sentenced imposed for driving offences.
A turning point came when he told his father he needed help and his father took him to the Royal Hobart Hospital in mid-2021. He had a number of hospitalisations in 2021 and he is now on appropriate medication and in close contact with his mental health team. He now has insight into his illness and when he feels unstable he knows he needs to get help.
He plans on doing a traineeship with a travel agency and has indicated he wants to work in this area.
I have a psychiatric report from Dr Reid who states that during the time of the defendant’s offending, “it is likely that he was using illicit substances and suffering Post-Traumatic Stress from his trauma. His mental health then deteriorated to the point of psychosis later in the year, but it was not clear to me whether he was psychotic during these times earlier in 2020 when he was suspected of receiving proceeds of crime. He could not give me a clear history that his behaviour was driven by psychotic illness. The statements from police interviews do not reflect grossly psychotic behaviour or intoxication. I therefore cannot offer a clear connection between his various conditions and offending”.
Dr Reid also states “I would like to emphasise the vulnerable nature of Mr Gamar. He is a refugee from a war torn country and he has experienced further trauma here in Australia and on return to Sudan. Unfortunately he has fallen into drug abuse which puts his mental health at risk which places him further to the periphery of society. At this time he seems reasonably engaged with Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Services. It would be highly detrimental for his trauma symptoms if he were to be imprisoned for any reason.”
In all of the circumstances, including the defendant’s plea of guilty and his remorse, he is convicted of each of the charges to which he has pleaded guilty and I make a community correction order for 12 months to commence 21 March 2022. The statutory core conditions of a community correction order are imposed. These include that the defendant must not during that period of 12 months commit an offence punishable by imprisonment. He must report to a probation officer or supervisor at 114 Bathurst Street, Hobart no later than 5pm on Monday when the order will commence. He must report to a probation officer as required by a probation officer and comply with the reasonable and lawful directions of a probation officer or a supervisor. I also impose the following special conditions:
- During the operational period of the order, you must submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer;
- You must comply with directions regarding compliance and engagement with Alcohol and Drug Service, mental health services and with any referrals pursuant to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
- You must undergo assessment and treatment for drug dependency as directed by a probation officer;
- You must submit to testing for drug use as directed by a probation officer;
- You must, for the duration of the operational period of the order, submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer.