The Snitch: Harriet Wran being investigated for possible fraud charges

The troubled daughter of former NSW premier Neville Wran who was arrested and charged with possessing drugs and stolen goods after police pulled her over could now be facing fraud charges.

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Criminal law firm George Sten and Co is something of a family affair.

The Sydney-based firm is about to usher the third generation into the fold.

Started by George Sten in Bankstown in 1967, the legal office — which has acted on cases involving the Comanchero and Brothers for Life gangs and killer Michael Kanaan — is now run by his daughter Maggie Sten and her husband Ronn Pront.

Maggie’s daughter Cassie is now preparing to enter the fold and is studying law at university and is due to be admitted to work as a lawyer next year.

It also makes her the fifth generation of lawyers in the Sten family, stretching back to the turn of the century in Poland.

Maggie Sten with her daughter Cassie Sten and husband Ronn Pront who run George Sten & Co Solicitors. Picture: Tim Hunter

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But if you thought Cassie’s family association might see her get an easier ride, Maggie will correct you. Her daughter will have to clear the same high bar her father set when she joined the firm in 1985.

“He threw three files down on my desk and said ‘see what you can do with these. You’ve got six months to make some money or you have to go’ — and that was day one,” Ms Sten said.

Born in 1923, George Sten was a doctor of law in Poland but left for Australia in 1957. He studied law again in Sydney and worked in a factory at night before opening the Bankstown practice.

The firm has since moved to the Bambini Trust building in the Sydney CBD.

The law firm was first started by George Sten. pictured right, in 1967. Picture: Tim Hunter

After originally dealing mostly with commercial law, it is now one of the top criminal firms in Sydney and has acted in cases including the Darwiche murders, for BFL boss Farhad Qaumi when he was acquitted of a double murder, and in cases involving Kings Cross identities Bill Bayeh and Danny Karam.

So, is it hard being the woman who has to deal with underworld personalities? Absolutely not.

“My family never differentiated,” Ms Sten said.

“I was never told I was a girl. So I was lucky to be brought up like that, which in my day was really unusual. Boys were allowed to go to university and girls had to go to Miss Hale’s Secretarial College.”

HARRIET’S NEXT DRAMA

Harriet Wran could have more charges coming with a police investigation underway over a stack of allegedly stolen credit cards found in the back of her car.

The troubled daughter of former NSW premier Neville Wran was arrested and charged with possessing drugs and stolen goods after police pulled over the Holden Colorado she was driving at a Central Coast petrol station at 1.30am on Wednesday.

Police allegedly found her carrying the drug ice.

Troubled Harriet Wran leaving Wyong police station after she was arrested and charged with possessing drugs. Picture: 9 News

In the back of the car, police allegedly found 32 items including several laptops, mobile phones and credit cards, along with a large amount of unopened mail with addresses in Hornsby and Newcastle.

The 30-year-old was charged with drug possession and possession of stolen goods.

But Snitch has also been told police are investigating possible fraud charges, which we understand relates to any use of the credit cards.

Wran had been attempting to put her life back together after her addiction to ice resulted in her being jailed for more than two years for her role in an incident where drug dealer Daniel McNulty was stabbed to death.

Her father is former NSW premier Neville Wran.

The ex-premier’s daughter was originally charged with murder but it was downgraded to robbery in company. She was bailed to continue living at her mother’s sprawling 50ha property at Ravensdale on the Central Coast while studying agribusiness at
New England University.

Wran will face Wyong Local Court on Wednesday.

PHONE PAS

It’s seriously bad courtroom form to have your phone go off in the middle of a hearing — but with advances in modern technology that is getting harder to avoid.

Gerard Craddock SC, the counsel assisting the William Tyrrell inquest, had a phone faux pas at a critical moment when he was questioning William’s foster father about whether he used Siri to send a text message to his wife in the minutes before he realised the young boy was missing.

“And you said ‘hey Siri…’,” Mr Craddock asked the foster father.

The question set off Mr Craddock’s own phone, which was on the bar table and sparked to life with her eerily smooth voice: “What can I help you with today?”

“Thanks Siri, we don’t need you at the moment,” Mr Craddock replied.

POLICE PORTFOLIO

Now ex-police minister Troy Grant is out of the picture, bets are in for who will take over the portfolio.

Corrections Minister David Elliott, the son of a former top cop, and Planning Minister Anthony Roberts, who counts ex-police on his staff, were former favourites but there is a new contender for police minister in the Berejiklian Cabinet.

Could Melinda Pavey nab the police minister role?

According to a well-placed Snitch source, Roads Minister Melinda Pavey has had a look in, with speculation the Roads and Transport portfolios will be merged.

That would leave either Ms Pavey, who was responsible for rolling out cocaine roadside drug testing with police last year, or Transport Minister Andrew Constance a free agent.

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