Pakistani student Hassan Zia Rana found guilty of money laundering over intricate Telstra iPhone scam

An Adelaide student helped run an intricate Telstra scam from his Mawson Lakes home – unaware counter-terrorism cops were watching. Watch the raid of his disgusting apartment.

A young student and part-time Uber driver laundered more than $200,000 as part of an intricate mobile phone scam that first came to the attention of counter-terrorism police through its links to Pakistan.

Hassan Zia Rana, 24, was this week found guilty of 20 counts of money laundering after a trial in the District Court.

Rana, who was born in Pakistan but was living in Adelaide to study aviation, was only 21 when the offending started in February 2020.

Over the following months he received more than 100 iPhones fraudulently obtained by the group – each valued at $2000.

During the trial Judge Heath Barklay heard Rana first came to the attention of police monitoring a scam targeting Telstra customers across Australia.

Hassan Zia Rana has been found guilty of laundering more than $200k as part of an international scam. Picture: Facebook

At the time, Telstra online accounts could be logged into using a “one-time pin”, which would be texted to the customer’s phone.

Patrick Mulvihill, prosecuting, said during his opening that between April and May 2020 Telstra customers would receive an “unsolicited phone call from a female purporting to work for Telstra”.

“This female knew the customer’s name and address and said that she requires some further details,” he said.

“It is evident that this female was already equipped with some data of Telstra customers, their mobile number, name and address.

“How she came to be in possession of that data is not known, not by Telstra or by police.”

Hassan Zia Rana has been found guilty of laundering more than $200k as part of an international scam. Picture: Facebook

Court released photos of thousands of dollars of cash found in Hassan Zia Rana's Mawson Lakes apartment. Picture: District Court

The woman would offer a discount on behalf of the company and explain a pin was needed to activate the special.

A text would arrive on the customer’s phone and the woman would ask for the pin to be read out loud.

The pin was not linked to a discount but was the “one-time pin” that allowed the woman, or someone working with her, to log into the customer’s online account.

“At the same time that this call was taking place some other participant in the scheme was simultaneously accessing the Telstra online shop to place an order for an Apple iPhone on the customer’s account,” Mr Mulvihill said.

“In placing that order the person needed to input the customer’s personal details, name and address, followed by the one-time pin that had been generated during the order process and sent to the customer’s phone.”

The phones would be ordered to various addresses in Mawson Lakes, regardless of where the customer lived.

The kitchen of Hassan Zia Rana's Mawson Lakes apartment where he was found with tens of thousands of dollars in cash. Picture: District Court

The loungeroom of Hassan Zia Rana's Mawson Lakes apartment. Picture: District Court

During the trial the court heard police identified the phone calls and the computers that ordered the phones as based in Pakistan.

In his published judgment, Judge Barklay found that Rana had been acting in tandem with his brother - who was based in Pakistan - and was an integral part of the scheme, including handling the phones, money and coordinating couriers on the ground.

“The irresistible inference is that Rana was intimately involved in the scheme,” he said.

As the packages started to flow towards Mawson Lakes, Rana approached an Australian Post driver and asked for a “favour”.

He paid the driver to identify packages from a list and rather than deliver them to the address, they would be handed over to Rana.

Police began monitoring both the driver and Rana and soon introduced an undercover operative who also started taking money from Rana to deliver him the packages.

The court heard evidence from the officer who said he met with Rana and was offered $25 per package with a $1000 bonus after 150 packages had been delivered.

Bundles of cash found at Hassan Zia Rana's Mawson Lakes apartment. Picture: District Court

On May 25, 2020, police raided Rana’s Mawson Lakes unit and found $65,000 in cash.

The prosecution case at trial was that Rana was being assisted by people operating out of Pakistan, though the level of assistance was unknown.

David Moen, for Rana, argued during the trial his client had only limited knowledge of the larger scheme and was a pawn for a more senior member of the syndicate.

Following the guilty verdict, Judge Barklay revoked Rana’s bail and remanded him in custody, noting a prison sentence was “inevitable”.

Rana will appear in court again for sentencing submissions next month.