Akma Johnson: Sentenced for dealing with criminal proceeds from email scam

A “bright” and “bubbly” hospitality worker, who dreamt about opening her own restaurant after being bullied by an ex-colleague, found herself in a pickle after an unexplained $88,000 was wired into her bank account.

A “bright” and “bubbly” hospitality worker, who dreamt about opening her own restaurant after being bullied by an ex-colleague, found herself in a pickle after an unexplained $88,000 was wired into her bank account.

Akma Johnson, 26, pleaded guilty to recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime in Penrith Local Court on Friday.

Akma Johnson pleaded guilty to recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime in Penrith Local Court.

Court documents reveal in April 2019, the chief financial controller at Malec Brothers Transport Group in Yarraville, Victoria got two email invoices from who she believed to be the logging administration supervisor for Greenfreight Logging Pty Ltd.

She paid both – one for $27,828.28 to a Westpac account and another for $88,342.41 to an ANZ account. Following inquiries, it was discovered the emails were fraudulent and the matter was reported to police on May 14, 2019.

It was soon revealed the ANZ account which received the $88,000 was held by Johnson.

The agreed facts state in the following days money was shifted between Johnson’s bank accounts which ultimately saw the ANZ account with a balance of almost $170,000.

The ANZ account was quickly emptied with about $160,000 withdrawn or transferred to other bank accounts, with almost $60,000 spent on a 1kg gold cast bar by Johnson.

The good fortune of the fraudulent money landing in Johnson’s bank account began to end on May 1, 2019 when an attempt to withdraw $5000 from Penrith’s ANZ branch was denied.

Court documents state an ANZ fraud investigator spoke to the St Marys woman about how the fraudulent money landed in her bank account, who claimed the money was from an African man named Pref and was going to be used to buy a restaurant.

About three months later police officers tried to make contact with Johnson at her St Marys address, only to discover she had relocated to Western Australia.

The agreed facts reveal, when finally contacted by email, she told police she didn’t “answer private numbers due to previously receiving scam calls” and recounted the version of events she had told the ANZ fraud investigator when asked about the money.

When asked about the purchase of $60,000 worth of gold she said she didn’t realise the money was from her own bank account, despite her photocard used for the purchase, and that she was “just collecting it for a friend”.

Johnson was charged by police in October last year and on Friday her lawyer, Michael Basha, told the court his client was remorseful and had been naively blinded by ambition.

The court heard that Akma Johnson, pictured outside Penrith Local Court, was remorseful after being naively blinded by ambition.

“Ms Johnson was 23 at the time and was in a relationship with a man,” he said. “She needed funds to start a restaurant so she did not question it when $88,000 appeared in her bank account, even when an ANZ fraud officer raised it. She accepts responsibility for this.”

Johnson’s letter of apology revealed she’d been bullied by a senior colleague at a previous job and he’d picked on her grooming, particularly her hair, reduced her shifts and highlighted all her flaws which motivated her to start her own business.

“I somehow got in my head that if I started my own business I could prove him wrong and prove to myself that I was better than how he made me feel,” Johnson’s letter of apology, tendered to the court, stated.

Mr Basha revealed his client did not benefit from the gold and that it had been given to her partner.

A character reference from a member of the Liberian community described Johnson as the type of person that “will give everyone the benefit of the doubt”, while her employer in WA described her as “hardworking” with “a bright future ahead of her”.

Magistrate David O’Neil said he took the references into account.

“It worries me that she went to Western Australia and avoided the police for a period of time,” the magistrate said.

Johnson was sentenced to a nine month jail sentence, to be served in the community by way of an intensive corrections order.