Sivashanthan Sinnathamby to be deported over forging club cheques across Sydney
A man who fleeced multiple Sydney clubs of more than $300,000 after he altered cheques from winning the pokies will be deported to Sri Lanka after he finishes serving jail time.
Blacktown
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A man who defrauded multiple Sydney clubs of $318,000 when he altered cheques after winning the pokies at venues including The Star Sydney, Wenty Leagues and Penrith RSL Club will be deported to Sri Lanka immediately after he is released from jail.
Sivashanthan Sinnathamby pleaded guilty to nine counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage or cause disadvantage by deception and possessing identification information to commit, facilitate commission or an indictable offence when he forged cheques he received after winning licensed premises, which also included Club Eastwood, Toongabbie Sports Club and Canada Bay Club between July 2019 and March.
At Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday, the 42-year-old Tamil asylum seeker, who has been in Australia since 2013, appeared via video link.
The court heard he often won thousands of dollars on the pokies but once receiving cheque for his winnings, altered figures so he could repay family overseas for loans to feed his gambling addiction.
The court heard the unemployed man’s wife and child live in Sri Lanka and he has no family in Sydney.
Court documents reveal Sinnathamby admitted getting involved in the syndicate after meeting a Canadian man who taught him how the scheme worked. Using his Photoshop skills, Sinnathamby sent cheques to Canada to be printed and pocketed $500 for each cheque forged.
The Liverpool man forged a cheque under Wenty Leagues’ name for $44,000.
Australia Post said the $44,000 cheque was paid out on July 16 last year at its Chatswood post office and an attempt to deposit a $79,550 cheque at Willoughby North was dishonoured.
Court documents revealed that, after the incidents, Australia Post lost $44,000.
Sinnathamby also forged cheques from venues including $48,860 from Toongabbie Sports Club, $62,353.80 from Penrith RSL Club, $29,970.90 from Campsie RSL Club, $9900 from the Canada Bay Club at Five Dock, $30,000 from the Star at Pyrmont, $49,970.70 from Club Eastwood and $24,790.50 from Norths Cammeray.
On March 12, Sinnathamby was arrested at Sydney International Airport and taken to Mascot police station where he was found with $815 in cash and jewellery in a bag, screenshots of bank accounts in others’ names, stolen credit and debit cards and identification cards that were to be used for fraudulent offences.
Magistrate Peter Feather told Sinnathamby the syndicate was sophisticated and involved a degree of planning and noted he was drunk while carrying out a lot of the criminal activity.
“You entered licensed venues. You were involved in gambling, you had a gambling addiction,’’ he said.
“You would gamble, you would drink.
“You came to Australia to provide for your family and extended family. That led to the need for you to obtain loans to support the habit.
“I hope you understand that these are very serious offences and I hope you’re able to develop some insight into your behaviour.
“I need to protect the community from you. These were, on many cases, not-for-profit organisations and, of course, you defrauded from these organisations.
“These are sizeable amounts of money that are not available to them for the purpose of paying staff.’’
Magistrate Feather said Sinnathamby had good chances of rehabilitation but imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence.
Sinnathamby was convicted and sentenced to 28 months in jail.
He has been in custody since March and will be eligible for parole in May next year.