Kuol Mawien Kuol, 25, formerly of Shepparton, pleaded guilty in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court to eight charges of obtaining property by deception, with seven of those charges related to him moving money from National Australia Bank customer’s accounts into accounts including his own.
In sentencing Kuol, magistrate Adrian Serratore said a total of $63,073.43 was stolen between November 25, 2020 and February 10, 2021.
Four of the victims were aged over 70 years.
“Your conduct was brazen, targeted and selfish,” Mr Serratore said.
While no victim impact statements were tendered as the bank had refunded all of the customers' money that was taken from their accounts, Mr Serratore said he had no doubt they also suffered from “shock, anxiety and anger at discovering they had been fleeced” by Kuol.
Another of the obtaining property by deception charges related to Kuol using $1300 in counterfeit money to buy a PlayStation 5 that had been advertised online from a person in Melbourne in November 2020.
Kuol also pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine, possessing cocaine, and two counts of possessing cannabis.
The court was told Kuol trafficked cocaine by messaging with an undercover police officer to organise the sale of what was purported to be 13 grams of cocaine – but was actually nine grams - at a cost of $2650 at a hotel in March 2021.
Kuol also pleaded guilty to four counts of committing an indictable offence while on bail, two counts of failing to comply with a direction to assist police, three counts of driving on a suspended licence, two counts of stating a false name to police, and 15 charges of contravening a bail condition.
Mr Serratore said Kuol used his brother’s identification twice in December 2020 and January 2021 when he was pulled over by police in Kialla and Undera.
On both occasions, Kuol was driving despite his own driver’s licence being suspended.
The charges of contravening bail conditions included six occasions where Kuol got another person to report to police while pretending to be him.
While on bail, he also fled to NSW against bail conditions that he not leave Victoria.
Mr Serratore noted Kuol was brought to Australia from Sudan at the age of five, and had later returned to Sudan as a teenager where he was caught up in the civil war where he experienced death and trauma, which had given him post-traumatic stress disorder.
Once back in Australia, he also witnessed the death of a friend in a workplace accident and turned to drugs and alcohol to cope.
A psychologist’s report tendered to the court said Kuol’s PTSD was triggered and exacerbated by his time in custody.
Kuol’s defence counsel also told the court he had sent some of the money stolen from the bank customers back to people in Africa.
He said his client referred to his deceptions as “the worst thing I have done in my life”, and said he had a limited prior history before these charges were laid.
Mr Serratore said the sentencing exercise for Kuol was a difficult one, as he felt he needed to do jail time for his crimes, but also that he needed help to reduce him chance of committing more crimes in the future.
Kuol was sentenced to 10 months in prison, with all the time ruled as already served.
He was released from custody on the same day as the sentence was handed down.
Kuol also has to be on a community corrections order for eight months, with conditions that he be treated for drug and alcohol abuse and dependency, treated for mental health issues and undertake a road trauma course.
He was also ordered to pay $63,073.42 in restitution to the bank.
Kuol was also fined $2000.
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