County Court: Obaid Khan, Shaheryer Khan sentenced to possessing $6m worth of stamps

An irreparable family rift has formed after two uni students found with 2.4 million fake stamps did not realise they were engaged in their older brother’s illegal scheme.

The Khan brothers, Shaheryer and Obaid were charged after 2.4 million fraudulent stamps were found at their Lygon St apartment.

Two international students are facing deportation after they were caught with $6m worth of fake postage stamps.

The pair were “minions” for their older brother who oversaw the operation from abroad, a court was told.

Shaheryer and Obaid Khan were sentenced in the County Court to possessing paper or articles resembling postage stamps while knowing they were not postage stamps.

The Khan brothers, of Pakistan, were charged in March 2021 after police found about 2.4 million fake Australian postage stamps — valued at $6m — at their Brunswick East apartment.

Their student visas were cancelled and they were placed on bridging visas following their arrest.

The pair were charged following a search warrant at their Lygon St home on March 24 2021, where police seized a label maker, unposted packages and 35 boxes in a locked storage cage that contained almost 2.5 million stamps.

Victoria Police received information from Australia Post the previous month regarding suspect packaging which prompted the investigation.

The court heard the duo’s role in the enterprise included receiving and storing the counterfeits at their Lygon St home as well as packing and posting orders, all at the behest of their brother.

Barrister Penny Marcou said her client Shaheryer, 25 and his brother Obaid, 23 did not sell or gain financial advantage from the counterfeit postage stamps with all monies channeled back overseas to their brother.

The brother left Australia in January 2021 and planned to return a few months later after his wedding in Pakistan.

He continued to pay the rent for the apartment and give the brothers an allowance.

A letter by the boys’ parents, read out during sentencing, revealed the family dynamic had been “fractured” and a rift formed between the boys and the brother as they remain very angry with him.

“They refuse to engage with him on any level which as parents is heartbreaking, our once loving and supporting family has been shattered as a result of poor choices made ... it appears there is no resolution to our familial conflict,” the letter said.

Judge Liz Gaynor said the ongoing rift supported the notion the boys failed to appreciate the seriousness of their actions and what they were instructed to do.

The court heard the pair suffered anxiety and depression following their arrest and the ongoing prospect of deportation weighed heavily upon them.

Judge Gaynor said the circumstances of the case, including the youth, naivety and immaturity of the brothers as well as their embarrassment and remorse following their arrest indicated imprisonment was not appropriate.

She made it clear sentencing would be entirely different for the architect of the scheme.

Judge Gaynor said the actual loss to Australia Post due to the pair’s offending was a “relatively modest” $10,340.

The brothers were placed on a 12 month good behaviour bond and no conviction was recorded.