A 25-year-old man from Adelaide’s north allegedly found with a large amount of cash in a car near Euston has been charged with dealing with suspected proceeds of crime.
Farid Farzam faced a hearing in the Wentworth Local Court on Thursday, charged with dealing with $229,600.
The court heard police seized cash from two locations in a vehicle he was driving, the larger of the amounts was found under a seat, and a smaller amount of $40,000 was located concealed in the vehicle’s footwell.
Senior Constable Jayden Valinoti testified to the court that the $40,000 in cash was hidden under the pedals, under carpet and sound bending materials, and behind the trim of the steering column.
“It’s something like an auto-tech would do, it would be very unusual for you to do it yourself unless you have a great knowledge of cars,” he said.
“It took reasonable effort to reveal the cash; there was an effort to conceal.”
Prosecutor Sergeant Pearce said it was not an issue that the accused had dealt with the money, but the charge required the court to determine whether the money was the proceeds of crime.
Mr Farzam was interviewed at Euston Police Station following the initial road search.
Detective Senior Constable Will Ingall told the court the accused had made admissions of collecting money from an Adelaide address with the intent to deliver it to a shop in Merrylands in Sydney.
The prosecution and defence counsel agreed that when the Mr Farzam was spoken to, he said a man named Dan Kelly was the person he got the money from.
Nine pieces of evidence were submitted to the court, including two statements from police, an Australian Tax Office report, a National Australia Bank document, a transcript of a police interview with Mr Farzam, and a two-page Austrac report.
The prosecution argued that the Austrac report revealed Mr Farzam was the nominated beneficiary of $50,000 prior to attempting to make the journey from Adelaide to Syndey.
A cross examination revealed there was no indication on NAB or Commonwealth Bank records of a $50,000 transaction, and a large sum of money was not received via the accused’s crypto currency holdings.
The court was told a businessman in Sydney was interviewed by police, who claimed roughly $220,000 of the money was his, and $20,000 was from customers of his business.
The matter was adjourned part heard and will recommence in the Broken Hill Local Court on November 6.
