Jamie Daniel Reiffel sentenced in Townsville District Court for dealing with money used in proceeds of crime
A NQ man maintained he did not know he was breaking the law despite acting as an “essential cog” in an illegal cryptocurrency scheme.
A Townsville man who helped funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting cryptocurrency investors into an illegal business has been “lucky” to avoid jail.
Jamie Daniel Reiffel was sentenced in Townsville District Court on Monday, more than five years after the offending took place.
The court heard the 30 year old assisted Michael James Sloggett, Reiffel’s co-accused, by referring people interested in purchasing cryptocurrency to him.
Reiffel would collect the funds and deposit them into various bank accounts - but failed to get their details.
Crown prosecutor Christopher Moore said Reiffel dealt with $114,020 over five months between January and May 2020, with money collected from customers and deposited into a number of bank accounts.
“The purpose of those transactions were to allow for the purchase of cryptocurrency on behalf of clients, and this defendant was working with or under a man named Michael Sloggett, who was working with a company called Modern Wall Street,” he said.
Later, Reiffel deposited $300,000 into the bank account of a business he had run with his co-accused, which was reversed by the bank and the account was shut down, causing Sloggett “big, big headaches.”
Mr Moore said Reiffel was an “essential cog” in Mr Sloggett’s cryptocurrency business, dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“The defendant was dealing with significant sums of money, facilitating the purchase of an anonymous asset class, for people who, in the Crown’s submission, your Honour would find were unwilling to use proper channels to purchase cryptocurrency,” he said.
Sloggett was charged with ten money laundering offences in April, 2021.
The court heard that in order to legally provide a currency exchange service, providers must be registered as a digital currency exchange, and must obtain identification from customers.
Judge Gregory Lynham said Reiffel’s criminality was that he failed to acquire the identities of people he referred to Sloggett.
“The need to require identification information before providing these services is an impediment to persons who are involved in illegal activity and paying cryptocurrency, as their information can be provided to police,” he said.
Defence barrister Justin Greggery said Reiffel first met Sloggett when he was a teenager, and said he represented everything his client wanted to be in the world.
“He appeared successful, entrepreneurial, and was prepared to take, and did in fact take, Mr Reiffel under his wing and showed him the ropes,” he said.
Mr Greggery said Reiffel shows strong prospects of rehabilitation, as he had no criminal history.
“Mr Reiffel honestly believed what he was doing was lawful,” he said.
Judge Lynham said Reiffel’s offending showed some level of sophistication, but accepted he was always going to be caught.
“You provided your personal identification to deposits and ultimately were to receive a very modest sum, that is less than $4000, for your involvement in the transactions,” he said.
Reiffel pleaded guilty to dealing with money reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime $100,000 or more.
He was given a 12 month sentence, and was released on the condition he be on good behaviour for two years.
“Count yourself very lucky… you have come very close to going to jail today,” Judge Lynham said.
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Originally published as Jamie Daniel Reiffel sentenced in Townsville District Court for dealing with money used in proceeds of crime
