Jonathan Newton: Wantirna South comedian, of Newtel Productions, avoids conviction

A Wantirna South comedian showed “inexplicable gullibility” after he got his mitts on almost $400,000 in illegal dough.

Jonathan Newton pleaded guilty to negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime. Facebook.

A Melbourne film producer and stand-up comedian received almost $400,000, which was the proceeds of a sophisticated email scam, a court has heard.

Jonathan Newton, 37, was this month sentenced in the County Court to a 12-month community corrections after he pleaded guilty to two charges of negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Newton pocketed almost $400,000 courtesy of an elaborate online scam in November and December 2018.

The court heard an unknown person hacked into a business email account and sent a fake invoice to a NSW landscaping company in November 2018.

The landscaping business later paid the $141,361 bill to an ANZ bank account Newton had registered for his friend.

Newton told his friend her investment with Summit Oil Profits had been paid out, asking her to keep $2000 of the cash and transfer the rest to him.

She received a phone call from someone called Michael, who was purporting to be the chief executive of Summit Oil Profits three days later, and became suspicious about the investment scheme, telling Newton she didn’t want to receive anymore funds from it.

The landscaping business reported the fraud to NSW police and Bendigo Bank refunded their cash.

The court heard a second business was duped into coughing up $254,642 after receiving a fake invoice on December 5, 2018.

The money ended up in Newton’s account, and he farmed it out through multiple transactions over the following weeks, including to his company account Newtel Productions.

Police interviewed Newton in July 2019.

The comedian told investigators he wasn’t aware he had laundered money and he believed his investment had been paid out.

Judge Justin Hannebery said Newton’s version of facts appeared “to be highly unlikely” and showed “inexplicable gullibility”.

“It is almost inconceivable that anyone would believe the inherently improbable stories that you had been told,” Judge Hannebery said.

But Judge Hannebery said the charges Newton had pleaded to meant he was to be sentenced for simply failing to realise the money was the proceeds of fraud, and not for being part of the “sophisticated international email scam”.

Judge Hannebery said “a reasonable person” would have at least asked about the legitimacy of the transactions or asked for more proof of their legitimacy.

“You did not do so despite handling what were substantial amounts of money and being required to undertake what seemed inherently unusual tasks regarding the transfer of that money,” Judge Hannebery said.

Judge Hannebery said his message needed to deter others from demonstrating such “extreme naivety”.

The court heard, Newton, from Wantirna South, was self employed in TV and film and stand up comedy after attending Emmaus College.

He also ran ‘iShoot images’ a business which did work for real estate agents and restaurants.

Newton, who also copped 50 hours of unpaid community work, was sentenced without conviction.

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