Tag Archives: oceania

Daniel was just jailed in Tokyo. His lawyers claim crucial evidence was ignored

EXCLUSIVE: Lawyers for an Australian man who was jailed in Japan last week say they believe the court ignored crucial evidence throughout the trial.

The Tokyo District Court found Daniel Otto, 33, intruded into the Shinjuku home of Masahiro Masuda, 70, at 11.30pm on June 23 last year.

The court ruled the Australian man said "this is a robbery" before engaging in a scuffle with the older man.

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Daniel Otto

Otto's lawyers claimed the whole incident was a misunderstanding and the Australian's attempts to warn Masuda about the smell of a nearby gas leak were lost in translation.

Defence lawyer Rie Nishida argued Otto had been practising parkour outside when he smelled gas coming from a nearby building.

His lawyers claimed that after smelling the gas, he tried to warn the nearby residents of the potential fire risk by climbing their fence.

According to his lawyers, when he came face-to-face with the 70-year-old inside, Otto said in English, "Go to a door" – a phrase that sounds like "gōtō da", which means "this is a robbery" when translated into Japanese.

"Otto called out in simple English, saying, 'Gas, gas,' and 'Go, gas'," Nishida told the court in the opening stages of the trial.

The court found Otto reached inside the apartment and Masuda, who was gripping both of Otto's hands in resistance, was pushed back into the house.

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The court's judgement stated that police officers at the scene didn't detect any smell of gasoline.

But the defence disputes this.

Nishida claims Otto was interrogated by police alongside a translator after his arrest in September 2023.

She alleged that the investigating officer, named only as police sergeant Yamamoto, spoke to the interpreter during the interrogation about the "gas-like smell".

Despite a recording of this interaction being played to the court, she said Yamamoto denied recollection of a gasoline smell.

"But the fact the investigation information exists, that the gasoline-like smell existed even months after the incident, it's a very, very supportive factor for us, but that was ignored."

Otto's legal team has not filed an appeal against the ruling.

‘Entitled, spoilt, fool’: Magistrate blasts private school boy

A Melbourne private school boy turned hoon has been blasted by a magistrate who called him an "entitled, spoilt, fool" after he filmed himself letting his souped-up car drive itself three times last year.

Sushant Mittal, 20, fronted Melbourne Magistrates' Court today, pleading guilty to more than 100 driving offences, including reckless conduct endangering life.

The court heard Mittal, who was 18 and 19 at the time, filmed his hoon driving and shared the outrageous clips to TikTok under the name "Sushi on Fire".

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In one video, the P-Plater can be seen speeding through the Domain Tunnel with his hands on his phone instead of the wheel.

Then, goaded by his brother in the backseat, he gets out of the driver's seat.

The modified Mercedes soared past cars on cruise control with no driver behind the wheel.

Other videos showed the former Haileybury student reaching speeds of up to 262km/h.

At one point he reached 187km/h on the Monash Freeway, passing 40 cars in 40 seconds.

Magistrate Malcolm Thomas couldn't contain his fury in court today, calling Mittal an "absolute fool".

"He's risking death and traumatic brain injuries and happy to leave families destroyed.. For likes? So he seems like some big hero?" Thomas said.

Thomas labelled Mittal as"immature, spoiled and protected from a lack of consequences".

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"He doesn't realise. He hasn't looked at the photos, looked at the victim impact statements. And neither have a huge number of young men who want to engage in similar behaviour for likes or to feel powerful," Magistrate Thomas said.

His own defence lawyer described him as "outrageous and idiotic".

Mittal's twin brother was sentenced earlier this year for similar offending.

He avoided a jail term, but today Mittal was told the same may not be the case for him when he is sentenced next month.

That's despite the court hearing he would be vulnerable in custody because of his privileged background.

Mittal moved to Australia from India 10 years ago.

The court heard both he and his brother have "never had to take responsibility for anything in their lives".

They were gifted luxury AMGs and BMWs by their parents.

When Mittal didn't want to do VCE, he was made a director in the supermarket his father owns.

Police say when specialist hoon officers arrested him in April last year, he denied involvement and nominated his friends and family members as drivers.

Operation Achilles was established by Victoria Police in 2021 to target hoon drivers.

Real estate agent ‘flees country after stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars’

A Victorian real estate agent has allegedly fled overseas after being accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients and employees.

Debra Lawry, who traded as Debra Watchman, is accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from her clients and staff, emptying the company's trust accounts and telling other agents she was in hospital while flying to Europe at the end of last month.

Primary school teacher Shay Preston had just sold her family home, and while she got the deposit back from Ray White, it cost the single mum thousands of dollars in extra expenses in the meantime.

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A Victorian real estate agent has allegedly fled overseas after being accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients and employees.Debra Lawry, who traded as Debra Watchman, is accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from her clients and staff, emptying the company's trust accounts and telling other agents she was in hospital while flying to Europe at the end of last month.

"It was very hard, very anxious, very stressful," Preston told 9News.

"It's been a very stressful month."

It is understood staff from Ray White Romsey, north of Melbourne, are also owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid super, leave entitlements and commission, including from Preston's sale.

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"I felt horrible, they have done, they were doing a job for us and regardless of who they were working under, they did a job," Preston said.

Staff claim they discovered their boss had been trying to book long-term accommodation in Italy after they found her office cleared out.

"I hope she steps one toe out of wherever she is and just they get her, because that's a lot of people that she's hurt," Preston said.

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In the lead-up to the real estate agent's disappearance, Consumer Affairs Victoria publicly announced it was looking to suspend or cancel her estate licences, alleging she had deliberately failed to comply with auditing obligations over the last four years.

Ray White said it is committed to paying all of the commissions owed to staff.

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Money launderer faces jail, deportation for $30 million job

Wei Wang thought authorities wouldn't notice the millions of dollars of cash being deposited into dozens of bank accounts through $10,000 instalments in a money laundering scheme.

"Well they were wrong about that," said crown prosecutor Michael Wilson at Wang's County Court hearing in Melbourne today.

The 35-year-old has pleaded guilty to four charges of dealing with money that is reasonably suspected to be from the proceeds of crime totalling more than $33 million.

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Wei Wang faces jail and deportation for laundering more than $33 million.

He operated a money remittance business where customers gave him cash that he received into numerous bank accounts he held under different names.

Each deposit was made in $10,000 transactions or less to avoid banking legal reporting requirements.

Wang gave his "money runner" Tao Zhu the cash to deposit at hundreds of ATMs, then he transferred the funds to his clients' overseas bank accounts in exchange for a commission.

His involvement in the operation began in December 2020 and for six weeks he made about 988 transactions into six accounts, worth more than $3 million.

From February 2021 to October 2021, about 1635 bank deposits were made into 38 different accounts worth more than $12.7 million.

Wang also operated a cryptocurrency remittance operation on the side from April 2021 where more than $16.9 million was laundered through his Binance crypto account.

The Chinese national was arrested in October 2021 when officers found $100,000 cash in a bag in his Blackburn home and another $117,000 in a Gucci box in his car among several mobile phones and bank cards.

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His co-offenders Boliang Liu, another remittance operator, and Zhou were jailed in August after admitting to dealing with suspected proceeds of crime worth millions of dollars between July 2020 and October 2021.

Wang, who lives in Australia on a permanent residency visa, appeared in court on Wednesday when his barrister Leonard Hartnett urged Judge Michael Cahill for a lenient sentence.

He said a psychologist report suggested Wang's behaviour was out of character, driven by financial problems and the lure of not insignificant funds from the operation.

Wang has already spent 70 days in pre-sentence detention during the latter part of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been suffering a "degree of depression" with the weight of prison hanging over him.

"That time was significantly onerous and involved multiple lockdowns," Hartnett said.

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He said his client has no criminal history and since being release on bail, has not reoffended, pointing to his "excellent" prospect of rehabilitation.

Wang demonstrated his remorse with his guilty plea and has made donations to charity since his release on bail.

"It was his idea to make these modest, but significant for him, donations to charity. It says something about him," the defence said.

Wilson said there was a very real prospect of Wang being deported and asked Judge Cahill to impose a minimum three-year jail term.

Wang will be sentenced on November 1.

Final mercy flight out of Lebanon returns hundreds of Australians home

Australia's final government-assisted flight from Lebanon touched down in Sydney last night, reuniting people fleeing the unstable region with their loved ones. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said 200 Australians and their immediate family members were onboard the flight, bringing the total number of people evacuated from Lebanon to 3121.

"The government is grateful for the support of the commercial airlines and partner countries, including Cyprus for its generous facilitation," she wrote in a statement.

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Australia's final government-assisted flight from Lebanon touched down in Sydney last night, as people fleeing the unstable region reunited with their loved ones. 

"And I thank the hardworking Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade teams working in Beirut, Cyprus and Canberra who worked around the clock to coordinate departures."

Australia is no longer scheduling repatriation flights out of Lebanon due to declining demand.

The government advises Australians looking to flee Lebanon to take the first commercial flight out while they remain available, as Beirut Airport could close and leave them unable to depart for an extended period of time.

"The Australian government may not be able to assist you to leave in such circumstances," the government said. 

While last night's flight touched down, Wong was presenting a speech at the University of Tasmania where she again reiterated her call for a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza.

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She was interrupted by pro-Palestine advocates who heckled her and eventually forced her to leave the stage.

"What we need right now is leaders that have backbone, that are willing to do something that isn't just talk," one could be heard saying in a video broadcast by the ABC.

Ongoing Israeli strikes and military action in southern Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank have created a volatile security situation in the Middle East.

The United Nations has warned of humanitarian crises in all three regions.

Australians are urged not to travel to Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. Anyone already in the region should leave immediately. 

Australians wanting to depart should register via DFAT's Crisis Portal or by calling the Australian Government's 24 hour Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 overseas or 1300 555 135 within Australia.