Deluded elderly cash mule leaves judge at a loss in love-scam case

A judge has described the plight of a law-abiding retiree who became a cash mule for criminals after he was hooked in a love-scam as tragic and sad.

Phillip Edser outside Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday. Picture: Sarah Marshall/NCA NewsWire

A judge has described the plight of an otherwise law-abiding retiree who became a cash mule for criminals after he was hooked in a love-scam as tragic and sad.

Brisbane District Court Judge Ray Rinaudo expressed his frustration and sympathy for retired engineer and teacher Phillip John Edser, 74, from Caboolture when sentencing him for money laundering.

“Obviously it’s difficult to know what to do with you,” Judge Rinaudo told Edser, saying Edser had been blinded by his online relationship with a woman.

“It’s very sad to see you in this situation, and it’s also very sad to see that you are not yet fully prepared to admit that you have been a victim of a scam to a significant financial loss to yourself,” Judge Rinaudo said.

Edser pleaded guilty to knowingly laundering $12,868 in dirty cash two years ago, by receiving the criminal proceeds into his bank account and paying it into an account belonging to his US-based “fiancee” Laura Shepherd.

The dirty money was cash lost by Tasmanian scam victims, the court heard.

Edser had nothing to do with the scam on consumers, and told the court that he is in love with Ms Shepherd, who he met a decade ago in Melbourne and has chatted with over the internet and via email.

“I’ve chatted to her this morning, she says she will arrive in Brisbane tomorrow morning,” Edser told the court.

Crown prosecutor Brendan White told Judge Rinaudo Edser was quite hopeful Ms Shepherd would return and pay the $12,868, travelling to Brisbane from the US.

Edser has also sent $237,000 of his own money to Ms Shepherd over the past decade, sending her cash as recently as last month.

District Court Judge Ray Rinaudo

Police wrote to him to warn him not to send Ms Shepherd money, but he continued, the court heard.

“Are you going to continue to do this?” Judge Rinaudo asked.

“No,” he replied.

“You say you are in love with the woman and she says that she can come here tomorrow, but she’s said that before and you haven’t seen her for 10 years,” Judge Rinaudo told Edser.

“But I suspect that unless you make a clean break with her and stop sending her money she will keep stringing you along for any amount that she can get out of you, which is a tragedy really.”

Edser told the court he had also been a victim of a scam by a Nigerian woman he met in London and paid £28,000.

The court heard that Edser had no criminal record, had not been paid a fee for his money laundering, and several years ago had volunteered for a hospital charity run by Dame Cecilia McNally, known as the Duchess of Spring Hill.

“For those reasons it’s very sad to see you in this situation. And it’s also very sad to

see that you are not yet fully prepared to admit that you have been a victim of a scam to a significant financial loss to yourself,” Judge Rinaudo said.

“The trouble is that you are not the only person to be scammed like this.

“This happens all the time, but you seem to continue to have some hope where there is no hope.

“But anyway, that’s just me feeling sorry for you.”

Judge Rinaudo said cash mules were often paid “$500 or something” for each transaction where they laundered cash, but Edser had not been paid.

Judge Rinaudo did not record a conviction and ordered Edser serve one-year’s probation where he can received psychiatric or psychological help to understand “what happened to you was wrong” and to help change his mindset in relation to his “fiancee”.