Stephen Parry alleged victim of Pooraka and Canberra man in alleged Crypto scam

A former Senate president thought he was buying a dream home, instead, police say, he was unwittingly funnelling more than $1m to two alleged scammers.

A high-profile former Liberal senator was ripped off more than $1.2m by scammers when he was trying to buy a house, police allege.

Former senate president, Tasmanian man Stephen Parry, was buying a house through a conveyancer when 22-year-old Pooraka man Mugabe Rapheal Mubake and a 30-year-old Canberra man diverted the money to their accounts, police allege.

Mr Mubake earlier this month faced the Elizabeth Magistrates Court charged with money laundering and dishonestly dealing with property. No pleas were entered to the charges.

Police will allege in court Mr Mubake and the Canberra man transferred $1,214,816 between several bank accounts and flipped $170,000 of it into cryptocurrency.

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

Mugabe Rapheal Mubake faces charges of money laundering and dishonestly receiving stolen property without consent. Picture: Facebook

Former Senate president Stephen Parry speaks during a Senate Estimates Committee at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

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

Court documents revealed Mr Parry, now a successful Tasmanian businessman, was the alleged victim, and that he was still out of pocket $206,665 about a year after the alleged scam.

Police will allege Mr Mubake and his co-accused Canberran perpetrated a well-known scam called a “business email compromise”.

Police will allege, in Mr Parry’s case – a classic example of the alleged scam, an email between him and his conveyancer was “compromised by a third party who altered the attached account payment information”.

Mr Mubake was granted police bail after he was arrested in August and made his first appearance in court earlier this month on the charges which were alleged to have occurred in late October and early November last year.

During Mr Mubake’s September court appearance a police prosecutor requested a 13-month adjournment to compile evidence because of the “very complex” case.

Tim McGrath, for Mr Mubake, said the lengthy request was “outlandish” and he was “dumbfounded” by it.

The Canberra man was arrested in Adelaide on September 23, charged with theft, money laundering and operating a financial business without a licence and was due to face court in December.

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.

Mr Mubake was ordered to return to the Adelaide Magistrates Court in March next year with his bail to continue while the Canberra man would appear in the same court in December.