Destination NSW scammed of almost $1m set for World Pride

Almost $1 million of government cash meant for Sydney’s World Pride event ended up being spent on gold bullion, after it fraudulently ended up in a Sydney brothel owner’s online account.

Almost $1 million of government cash meant for Sydney’s World Pride event ended up being spent on gold bullion, after it fraudulently ended up in a Sydney brothel owner’s online account.

Cousins Simon Menzies and Mansus Knight were charged over their roles in the aftermath of an elaborate scam that saw Destination NSW lose $942,700 meant for the World Pride event that took over the city in May.

The money ended up in Knight’s bank account in July 2021, as the NSW Government began to pay vendors ahead of the event.

The money was destined for a company called Sydney WorldPride Limited, however, a person purporting to be an employee of the company contacted Destination NSW and indicated that Sydney WorldPride’s banking details had changed to a Commonwealth Bank account which was actually operated by Knight.

The transfer was later discovered to be a Business Email Compromise Fraud. The scam involves a fraudulent person or company requesting payment into their account or an account held by a “money mule”.

The money is then transferred to other accounts or converted to other valuable but untraceable commodities, for example cash, gold or cryptocurrencies.

In a Business Email Compromise Fraud, a fraudulent person or company requests payment into their account or an account held by a “money mule”. The money is then transferred to other accounts or converted into other valuable commodities, such as gold. Picture: iStock

In the days following, Knight, 51, transferred the money to Menzies, the operator of a Kings Cross brothel, via an online bullion account, which he then used to buy gold across 13 transactions.

Four days later, Knight was arrested at the Eastgardens Commonwealth Bank branch, while Menzies was busted trying to collect the gold a week later.

The cousins told police Knight won the cash in some unidentified form of gambling or a Lotto win.

They claimed it was Menzies’ idea to buy the gold because it was a “good investment”.

There was no evidence that Menzies or Knight were involved in the interception or manipulation of the bank account details, however, and they were each charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Knight pleaded guilty to three offences, and escaped full time jail, with a judge imposing a 16-month intensive corrections order.

Menzies, however, pleaded not guilty to the 14 offences against him and recently went to trial in the NSW District Court.

During the trial – one of his female friends took the stand and claimed Menzies told her he was involved in a Business Email Compromise Fraud with people in Nigeria. She told the court Menzies said he did not have a role in the actual interception, instead it would be done by the Nigerians.

The Crown argued the story told by Knight and Menzies about the cash coming from a gambling win was a “false story” concocted between them in an endeavour to avoid punishment.

The jury agreed and Menzies was found guilty of each of the offences.

He copped a four-year jail sentence, with Judge Michael King saying he lacked remorse and tried to “downplay” his role.

“It would have been open to the offender, having been convicted of the offences, to elect to provide relevant information as to anyone else that was involved in this matter, either in infiltrating the email system and providing the false bank account details or what was to be done with the gold once he had collected it,” he said.

“On the evidence it stands that the offender was collecting the gold, purely for his own use.”

He will be eligible for release to parole in 2026.