Imad Fatrouni sentenced after growing Peats Ridge tobacco crops

An illegal Central Coast tobacco crop so massive it was captured on satellites also caused a loss of $9m excise tax. One of its key organisers has found out his punishment for his role in the syndicate.

Some of the tobacco seized from Peats Ridge. Picture: NSW Police

A western Sydney grandfather who ran a sophisticated, illicit tobacco operation worth almost $3m with an army of workers, greenhouses, kilns and machinery has learned his fate for the syndicate.

At Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday, Imad Fatrouni was sentenced for the illicit Peats Ridge set-up, which cultivated more than 69,000kg of tobacco.

Fatrouni’s lawyer told the court his client was not the chief organiser in the syndicate but a worker who picked and packed tobacco.

However, the Commonwealth prosecutor Mahmud Hawila told the court the diesel and electricity receipts seized from Fatrouni showed his role in the enterprise was significant.

“This is a fit-for-purpose 25-acre set-up running at a commercial level,’’ Mr Hawila said.

Imad Fatrouni leaves Parramatta Local Court after his sentence.

He said the illegal operation saved its growers $9m in excise tax.

“ … That’s $9m savings for a business that would otherwise incur that cost,’’ he said.

“The offender’s role was at a high level.’’

The 54-year-old was busted on April 13, 2020, after Brisbane Waters police received a public tip-off and enlisted the help of the Australian Taxation Office investigators, whose satellite images of the 10-hectare property at Euloo Rd showed “large greenhouses” and a “significant number of large leaf plants growing’’ on half the site.

Court documents reveal Fatrouni grew tobacco between January and April 2020 at a property he did not own.

On April 13, 2020, ATO investigators and cops swooped on the property. They unearthed a “large-scale tobacco manufacturing operation” that included four plots with tobacco plants, two large greenhouses, two drying kilns, a large shed housing production set up and other tobacco-related machinery.

The crops took up half of the 10-hectare property. Picture: NSW Police

In September this year, Fatrouni pleaded guilty to possessing tobacco/seed/plant/leaf 500kg or above and manufacturing/producing tobacco/seed/plant/leaf 500kg or above.

He possessed 1247.35kg of undried tobacco leaf worth $204,230 and manufactured 69,000kg of tobacco. The operation uncovered almost $3m worth of tobacco.

The statement of facts shows Fatrouni produced the tobacco with others. No one else was charged following the operation.

During the search, Fatrouni and a 55-year-old man were caught standing in front of a table near two open green shipping containers and holding tobacco leaves.

The table had a large amount of tobacco leaves wrapped in hessian bags. An open kiln with drying racks containing tobacco leaves was nearby.

Under Covid-19 protocols implemented at the time, cops “processed 10 individuals on the property”.

The illegal operation included greenhouses and kilns. Picture: NSW Police

“These people included five females of Asian appearance working in one of the fields picking leaves from tobacco plants as well as five males of Middle Eastern appearance,’’ the statement of facts read.

Another man claimed he was at the property the day of the arrest because he was paid cash to drive the female workers to work at the farm and return them home.

Another man claimed to be there that day because he was a diesel mechanic and Fatrouni had asked him to attend the property to work on the tractors.

Police seized Fatrouni’s Renault van, their mobile phones, a roll of clear tape, letters, receipts for diesel and samples of tobacco plants, and “green and dried leaf material”.

The vast production size meant the operation continued the next day, and ATO and police stayed overnight at the sprawling site.

On April 14, $810 was seized from a Queensland-registered Mercedes sedan belonging to a then 60-year-old man at the property and a set of scales in a four-wheel drive.

Contactors removed the kilns and destroyed the crops.

Analysis of Fatrouni’s phone revealed several text messages, photos and images linking him to the tobacco operation.

Imad Fatrouni possessed more than 1200kg of illegal tobacco. Picture: NSW Police

Text messages were also sent about the cost of supplying workers, diesel, fertilisers, electricity, a link to an article about tobacco seized on a farm in Bigga, and mentions of illicit tobacco brands smuggled into Australia.

Between August 2019 and March 2020, he wrote about seedlings, prices for Dunhill Red and flavoured molasses tobacco “that is popular in the Middle Eastern community’’.

Court documents say a solicitor for the property owners confirmed there was not a lease at the Euloo Rd site and they declined to provide police with a statement.

ATO records confirmed Fatrouni was not registered as a manufacturer, producer or dealer of tobacco leaf, nor was he licensed to grow or deal in tobacco.

Magistrate Kate Thompson said Fatrouni’s role went “beyond merely to pick and pack, and his role was consistent with a person intimately involved in the operation”.

“It was planned, sophisticated, it took place over a period of months, it took a high level of control and organisation,’’ she said.

Ms Thompson noted Fatrouni’s past offences.

“It is particularly concerning that he has an offence involving the illicit use of tobacco in 2019, with which he has been dealt with by the court,’’ she said.

He was sentenced to a 16-month intensive correction order, which allows him to serve a sentence in the community, and 150 hours of community service. He must also undertake mental health treatment.

The court heard how Fatrouni suffered PTSD after a traumatic childhood growing up in war-torn Lebanon, where he left school in year 2 and worked from the age of nine.

The court heard he must also undertake mental health treatment.