Legal representatives for Canberra lawyer Ben Aulich and accountant Michael Papandrea have argued they shouldn't be sent to trial over conspiracy to money launder charges. In the ACT magistrates court, Aulich's lawyer argued that the matter is a classic case of entrapment.
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TVTranscript
00:00 Ben Orlick and Michael Papandrea are accused of conspiring with an undercover police officer
00:07 to buy a supermarket to help launder money from the sale of illegal cigarettes.
00:12 Today the ACT Magistrates Court heard arguments as to whether there is sufficient evidence
00:17 to send the pair to a Supreme Court trial.
00:20 Mr Orlick's lawyer David Campbell argued against that,
00:23 describing the matter as a classic case of entrapment.
00:27 All of the alleged criminal conduct from its genesis was in the mind of an undercover agent, he said.
00:33 Mr Campbell told the court the accused delivered lawful services,
00:37 but once the business was bought, it was up to the client to decide what he does with it.
00:42 Mr Campbell also argued that the undercover officer was the hub of the wheel,
00:46 and that if he couldn't be accused of being a co-conspirator,
00:49 then neither could Mr Orlick or Mr Papandrea.
00:52 Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi argued the matter was not an entrapment situation.
00:57 He told the court while the undercover officer presented the problem of what to do with the cash,
01:02 it was Mr Orlick and Mr Papandrea who came up with the solution of buying a business to launder the money.
01:08 This was not a case, as suggested by Mr Campbell,
01:11 of Mr Orlick and Mr Papandrea helping a client and then washing their hands of it, Mr Tedeschi said.
01:17 Their sole purpose was to set him up in a business to launder money.
01:20 The whole plan originated from Mr Orlick and Mr Papandrea.
01:24 The prosecution also told the court that Mr Orlick required that phones were left out of some meetings with the undercover officer,
01:31 in what it said was evidence that he knew what he was doing was wrong.
01:35 Special Magistrate Sean Richter will decide in August whether the matter will go to trial.
01:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]