Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
A western Sydney grandfather who ran a sophisticated, illicit tobacco operation worth almost $3m with an army of workers, greenhouses, kilns and machinery has learned his fate for the syndicate.
At Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday, Imad Fatrouni was sentenced for the illicit Peats Ridge set-up, which cultivated more than 69,000kg of tobacco.
Fatrouni’s lawyer told the court his client was not the chief organiser in the syndicate but a worker who picked and packed tobacco.
However, the Commonwealth prosecutor Mahmud Hawila told the court the diesel and electricity receipts seized from Fatrouni showed his role in the enterprise was significant.
“This is a fit-for-purpose 25-acre set-up running at a commercial level,’’ Mr Hawila said.
He said the illegal operation saved its growers $9m in excise tax.
“ … That’s $9m savings for a business that would otherwise incur that cost,’’ he said.
“The offender’s role was at a high level.’’
The 54-year-old was busted on April 13, 2020, after Brisbane Waters police received a public tip-off and enlisted the help of the Australian Taxation Office investigators, whose satellite images of the 10-hectare property at Euloo Rd showed “large greenhouses” and a “significant number of large leaf plants growing’’ on half the site.
Court documents reveal Fatrouni grew tobacco between January and April 2020 at a property he did not own.
On April 13, 2020, ATO investigators and cops swooped on the property. They unearthed a “large-scale tobacco manufacturing operation” that included four plots with tobacco plants, two large greenhouses, two drying kilns, a large shed housing production set up and other tobacco-related machinery.
In September this year, Fatrouni pleaded guilty to possessing tobacco/seed/plant/leaf 500kg or above and manufacturing/producing tobacco/seed/plant/leaf 500kg or above.
He possessed 1247.35kg of undried tobacco leaf worth $204,230 and manufactured 69,000kg of tobacco. The operation uncovered almost $3m worth of tobacco. The statement of facts shows Fatrouni produced the tobacco with others. No one else was charged following the operation. During the search, Fatrouni and a 55-year-old man were caught standing in front of a table near two open green shipping containers and holding tobacco leaves. he table had a large amount of tobacco leaves wrapped in hessian bags. An open kiln with drying racks containing tobacco leaves was nearby. Under Covid-19 protocols implemented at the time, cops “processed 10 individuals on the property”. On April 14, $810 was seized from a Queensland-registered Mercedes sedan belonging to a then 60-year-old man at the property and a set of scales in a four-wheel drive. Contactors removed the kilns and destroyed the crops.
Analysis of Fatrouni’s phone revealed several text messages, photos and images linking him to the tobacco operation.
