Four properties owned by a Sunshine North married couple were used as “grow houses” to yield nearly 400 cannabis plants.
Duy Van Nguyen, 44, and Huong Lan Thi Do, 39, pleaded guilty in the County Court this month to recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime, believed to be more than $190,000.
A sentencing hearing on May 6 heard the couple rented out the properties for the cultivation of 394 hydroponic cannabis plants at Caroline Springs, Keilor Downs, Truganina and Tarneit between August 1, 2012, and September 12, 2013.
Police found 113 plants at Tarneit, 179 at Truganina and 92 at Caroline Springs after raids on September 12.
Nguyen was arrested at the Keilor Downs property, where evidence of cultivation was also uncovered.
‘All a sham’
Judge Anthony Howard said the raid of the couple’s Sunshine North home yielded documents revealing “sham” rental agreements for all four properties.
“Your tax records purported to show rental income, and receipts for rental income had been issued during the relevant offending period,” he said.
“This was all a sham.
“It is agreed that, together, you recklessly dealt with $190,602, being the proceeds of the money you derived directly from the occupiers of the properties or the or
ganisers of the schemes from their cultivation and sale of a commercial quantity of cannabis – not from tax evasion.
“This figure has been established from an examination of legitimate income, essentially derived by you from your operation of a butcher shop at the Footscray market during the offending period.”
Nguyen was jailed for a year, with six months suspended, while Do received a nine-month suspended jail term.
