Pooraka man charged with 14 counts of laundering over alleged Tassie Senator swindle, brother’s charges dropped

Charges against a Canberra man accused of an $1.2m email hack of a former Senator have been dropped, while his Adelaide brother’s charges have been upgraded.

Charges laid against a Canberra man accused alongside his South Australian brother of ripping off a former Senator have been withdrawn without explanation.

A listing in the Adelaide Magistrates Court was the first time Daniel Aganze Mubake, 30, would have fronted court on charges of money laundering and dishonestly receiving property without consent.

However, he was granted permission to stay in the ACT as his charges were withdrawn.

A prosecutor made no application herself for the charges to be withdrawn, but made no opposition to the suggestion made by Magistrate Brian Nitschke.

Daniel Mubake was initially charged alongside his brother Mugabe Rapheal Mubake, 23, of Pooraka, over an alleged elaborate $1.2m “business email compromise” of former Tasmanian Liberal Senator Stephen Parry.

Mugabe "Rapheal" Mubake and Daniel Aganze Mubake were charged over an alleged sophisticated fraud targeting a former Liberal Senator. Daniel’s charges have since been withdrawn. Picture: Supplied

Mugabe Mubake first appeared before the Elizabeth Magistrates Court in September last year on one charge of money laundering and another of dishonestly dealing with property without consent.

Appearing before the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday, the prosecutor told the court a charge determination had been made and Mugabe Mubake would now be facing a further 13 money laundering charges.

He was also facing five charges of breaching his bail.

In a public statement last year, police alleged Mugabe Mubake implemented a classic example of the email scam and targeted Mr Parry while he was looking to buy a home in late October and early November 2021.

Traditionally, the scam compromises an email between a buyer and a conveyancer and “alters the attached account payment information”.

Police have previously alleged Mugabe Mubake transferred $1,214,816 between several bank accounts and flipped $170,000 of it into cryptocurrency.

They have previously alleged $100,000 of that had been recovered while $70,000 was still missing after it had been sent to an overseas account in Ghana.

Former Senate President Stephen Parry. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

A further $66,000, police will allege, was used to buy shares.

According to court documents, Mr Parry, now a successful businessman and also a former police officer, was still out of pocket $206,665.

Mr Parry, also a former Senate President, was one of numerous politicians caught up in a dual citizenship saga that saw several members of parliament resign amid queries over the Constitutional eligibility of them holding office.

Speaking generally, Australian Federal Police Commander Chris Goldsmid previously described business email compromise scams as “sophisticated, insidious and a real and increasing threat”.

“BEC is a fraud technique that redirects legitimate payments to incorrect bank accounts,” he has said.

Mugabe Mubake has not entered any pleas to the charges and will next face court in April.