NSW man Senan Solaka, 38, sentenced for money laundering after delivering $142k in cash to Adelaide property

A truckie who drove $142,000 in cash to Adelaide from NSW hidden inside a ute should have known something was wrong, a judge says.

A professional truckie who drove a box of $142,000 in cash from NSW to Munno Para West for a $20m criminal syndicate should have known it likely contained “tainted” property, a judge says.

NSW man Senan Solaka, 38, appeared in the District Court on Monday in front of Judge Nick Alexandrides for sentencing after pleading guilty to one count of money laundering.

Judge Alexandrides noted Solaka believed he wasn’t “doing anything illegal”, but told the father-of-two there were “considerable factors” that would have “reasonably caused you to have appreciated that the property was tainted”.

“The arrangement to transport a box of money from New South Wales to South Australia in a long haul truck is to say, the very least, unconventional, and that itself speaks of an illegitimate purpose,” Judge Alexandrides said.

“It seems highly unlikely that someone would go to such lengths and unconventional means to transport only a nominal sum of money.

“After travelling into South Australia, you drove to Munno Para West to provide the package to a man. Between 8.37pm and 8.52pm on 27 May 2020, police followed a silver Nissan Navara utility in which you were a passenger and Stevens was the driver.

“At 9.36pm police stopped the Nissan Navara on Surrey Farm Dr, Wynn Vale. Police searched the Nissan Navara utility and located $142,500 in cash in plastic bags inside two cryovac bags hidden under the rear bench seat of the utility. The rear bench seat of the utility had been screwed to the floor, which made it more difficult to detect and remove the packages.”

Solaka was arrested in 2019 as part of Operation Kardinal – an investigation into the trafficking of large commercial quantities of cannabis and other controlled substances between New South Wales and South Australia.

Nine people in total were arrested – accused of laundering as much as $20m and trafficking in large quantities of methamphetamine and cannabis.

Part of the cash found during the operation. Picture: SA Police

Upon his arrest, Solaka’s mobile phone was seized by police – who intercepted communications between the father of his co-accused and the alleged syndicate mastermind.

During the conversation, the court heard Solaka’s co-accused was told of the arrest and that police had “got the money”.

On Monday, Judge Alexandrides acknowledged Solaka “trusted” the person who had asked him to transport the package, and that he thought he was “simply doing him a favour”.

“You say that you were asked by a person, who you did not identify, to drop off some money to another person in Adelaide to whom the unidentified person owed money,” Judge Alexandrides said.

“You say you did not believe that you were doing anything illegal and genuinely believed that the debt was owed in relation to a legitimate debt or business dealing.”

Judge Alexandrides sentenced Solaka to nine months and two weeks’ jail – suspending it upon entering into a good behaviour bond for two years and six months.