Obaid Khan, Shaheryer Khan committal hears more details of alleged offending

Inadequate preparation has led to further delays already plaguing the case of two brothers accused of a $3m postage stamp fraud.

Inadequate preparation has led to further delays already plaguing the case of two brothers accused of a $3m postage stamp fraud.

Obaid Khan, 23, and Shaheryer Khan, 24, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday for a committal hearing.

The Pakistani brothers, who are both in Australia on student visas, are both contesting two charges each of possessing and selling counterfeit postage stamps.

The charges stem from a police raid on their Lygon St property in March last year, when police allegedly discovered boxes of counterfeit postage stamps valued at $3m.

During a bail application last year, Senior Constable Timothy Renshaw told the court the pair made “full admissions” about their involvement in the operation.

Barrister Penny Marcou questioned him about this during Tuesday’s committal, and why he questioned the brothers and other residents in their building about bicycle thefts when his diary notes stated he was there for something else.

The court heard he first visited the Lygon St address on March 16, 2021 after receiving a report about allegedly suspicious packages.

The report included a registration plate for a car linked to the address where the brothers lived.

But while he noted in his diary that he went to the address as part of ‘Operation Paval’, Senior Constable Renshaw and other officers door knocked and asked if people, including the brothers, knew anything about bikes being stolen from the building.

During this visit they found boxes stacked in a cage in the underground carpark.

Ms Marcou suggested Victoria Police officers intentionally “used the excuse of bike theft” but went to the building “without lawful authority to obtain evidence to then put in a warrant to go back to the premises”.

But Senior Constable Renshaw disagreed.

The court heard police returned to the address with a search warrant for the brothers’ two bedroom flat on the morning of March 24, telling them they had information they were in the possession of selling counterfeit Australian postage stamps.

Ms Marcou asked why an interpreter was not called in while the brothers were being questioned and the warrant was being executed.

With the informant unable to give informed responses to all questions, stating he had been too busy at work to review the hours long footage, the decision was made to adjourn the matter again.

It came after the magistrate earlier granted more than $22,000 in legal costs for the brothers‘ lawyers to prepare for and appear during the hearing, after the prosecution had been unable to produce evidence sought by the defence during a hearing in July – causing a delay.

The committal was adjourned and will continue in December.