In a money laundering conspiracy, Wei Wang believed the authorities wouldn’t catch wind of the millions of dollars that were being laundered into dozens of bank accounts in $10,000 installments.
Crown prosecutor Michael Wilson stated, “Well, they were wrong about that,” during today’s hearing in Melbourne’s County Court involving Wang.
The 35-year-old has admitted guilt on four counts related to the handling of over $33 million in funds that are likely to have originated from criminal activities.
He had multiple bank accounts under aliases because he ran a money remittance business and received cash from clients.
In order to stay out of legal hot water with the banking authorities, all of the deposits were $10,000 or less.
With the money Wang paid his “money runner” Tao Zhu, who deposited it at hundreds of ATMs, Wang sent the money to his clients’ accounts abroad in return for a commission.
He started working with the organization in December 2020 and over the course of six weeks he transferred over $3 million across six accounts, totaling over 988 transactions.
More than $12.7 million was deposited into 38 separate accounts between February and October of 2021, totaling around 1,635 deposits.
From April 2021 onwards, Wang had a side business remitting cryptocurrencies, laundering about $16.9 million using his Binance crypto account.
Officers discovered $117,000 in a Gucci box in the suspect’s car, along with many mobile phones and bank cards, and $100,000 in a bag at the suspect’s Blackburn residence in October 2021, leading to the suspect’s arrest.
After admitting to dealing with millions of dollars worth of alleged proceeds of crime between July 2020 and October 2021, Zhou and another remittance operator, Boliang Liu, were sentenced in August.
Wednesday, Wang’s attorney Leonard Hartnett pleaded with Judge Michael Cahill for a light sentence on behalf of Wang, who resides in Australia on a permanent residency visa.
According to him, a psychologist’s study indicated that Wang’s actions were irrational, motivated by his financial woes and the appealing prospect of a little sum of money from the procedure.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic’s latter stages, Wang spent 70 days in pre-sentence detention and has been experiencing a “degree of depression” due to the spectre of prison.
“That time was significantly onerous and involved multiple lockdowns,” said Hartnett.
He boasted about his client’s “excellent” rehabilitation prospects, saying that he has no criminal record and has not reoffended since being released on bail.
Since being released on bond, Wang has donated to charity, demonstrating his regret through his guilty plea.
These were small donations, but they meant a lot to him, and he decided to make them.
According to the defense, it reveals something about him.
Wilson urged Judge Cahill to impose a minimum sentence of three years in prison, saying that Wang’s deportation was a very real possibility.
On November 1, Wang’s sentencing will take place.
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