Apprentice from Minto pays $6500 for fake trade qualifications
An apprentice who was failing at TAFE tried to take a short cut by splurging $6500 to try and buy fake trade qualifications. He has been convicted in Campbelltown Local Court.
Macarthur
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An apprentice who was failing at TAFE and dreamt of launching his own business has been convicted of buying fake trade qualifications for $6500.
Adam Hassan, of Minto, who has since completed his airconditioning and refrigeration apprenticeship and become fully qualified, was the 11th person charged as part of the Organised Crime Squad’s investigation under Strike Force Petrie.
The trio of alleged masterminds were arrested last December with police allegedly seizing more than $55,00 from one address. A married couple, alleged to have a major role in the operation, were charged with handling $125,000 they knew to be proceeds of crime. The trio remain before the courts.
Police allege in court documents tendered in the proceedings that interested buyers, such as Hassan, would reach out to one of the masterminds and discuss a price. A meeting would then take place at a Caringbah address where the buyer would provide legitimate documents, which would then be forwarded to the married couple
It was alleged that a backdated certificate with a form of trade qualification would then be provided to the buyer.
Hassan pleaded guilty in Campbelltown Local Court to possessing fake documents and trying to gain official qualifications by lodging them to interstate departments of Fair Trading. He bought the documents between August and December last year.
Phone intercepts from late last year, which were tendered as evidence, highlight Hassan’s frustration when his fake documents, dated in 2013, were being rejected from all states.
“I’m going to have to go back to TAFE and do the whole course myself … I feel like my $6500 went down the drain,” he told the alleged seller of the false documents.
Court documents reveal the Minto man lodged six certificates to the NSW Department of Fair Trading and Department of Justice, Regulatory Services Tasmania in an attempt to get his trade licence. He was arrested at dawn on September 17.
Defence lawyer Derek Drewett said Hassan was “foolish, naive” and guilty of “taking a short cut” but had since done the right thing.
He was placed on a conditional release order for two years.
INTERCEPTED CONVERSATION BETWEEN HASSAN AND ALLEGED SELLER
Hassan: I’ve been rejected from every single state so far. Every single state is saying the certificates are overdue, they need updates. You gave me certificates from 2013.
Seller: No, they’re the legitimate current qualification. This is bullshit.
H: I’m going to have to go back to TAFE and do the whole course myself.
S: No, you won’t have to, because you got it.
H: I feel like my $6500 went down the drain.
S: It’s not down the drain, because they’re not saying it’s a dodgy qualification or anything.
H: But they want a current, can you do me a current, can you do that for me?
S: That is the current qualification, you weren’t going to get it anywhere easier, you weren’t gonna get it.
H: Can you give me a new certificate then? Can you supply me with a …
H: … can you supply me with something please Eric, can you do me a favour, I’ll pay you whatever you need, please give me something
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