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Intention To Defraud By Destroying Accounts – s 192F Crimes Act (NSW)

Facing a charge of an intention to defraud by destroying or concealing accounting records is dreadful. It can suddenly effect your job and travel plans if a criminal record is received. Our Sydney criminal lawyers are highly specialised in fraud offences, with a specialty in convincing police to drop fraud charges early, and avoiding a criminal record for over 20 years.

Call us now on (02) 8606 2218 to book a free first consultation with an experienced Fraud Defence Lawyer.

Your Options in Court

You can only be guilty to a charge of intention to defraud by destroying or concealing accounting records if police can prove each of the following elements to the offence:

  • You destroyed or concealed accounting records; and
  • You were dishonest when you did this; and
  • You did this with the intention to either obtaining property belonging to another, or to obtain a financial advantage or cause a financial disadvantage

If police are unable to prove any one of the above three elements to this offence beyond reasonable doubt, you will be not guilty and your charge dismissed in court.

Defences to this charge

You will be Not Guilty if:

  • You honestly believed, in a set of circumstances where that belief was reasonable to hold, that you were entitled to destroy or conceal the accounting record
  • You honestly did not know the nature of the document when destroying or concealing it. You were following instructions.
  • You did not conceal or destroy the accounting records
  • You had no intention of obtaining any property belonging to another, nor to obtain a financial advantage or cause a financial disadvantage
  • Duress or Necessity

You will be not guilty and the charge dismissed in court if any one of the above defences to this charge apply to your case. Our specialist fraud lawyers will be able to quickly discover your best defence, then focus on negotiating with police to get your charge dropped early. They have achieved this many times for over 20 years.

If you do decide to plead guilty to a charge of intention to defraud by destroying or concealing accounting records, it’s important to know the following tips in preparing and presenting your case in the best way for your case. These tips will maximise your chances at avoiding a criminal record with a s10 in court.

25% Discount on punishment

Pleading guilty to a charge of intending to defraud by destroying or concealing accounting records early enough in your case will get you a 25% discount on punishment. This results in a much lighter outcome and better chances at s10 to avoid a criminal conviction.

The later you enter the plea of guilty in court, the less discount you will get. This is why it’s critical to get reliable and experienced advice from a specialist fraud lawyer early in your case. This can allow further leniency as it shows remorse.

Good Character References

A well drafted good character reference letter should express your good character, remorse, shame and insight into your offending behaviour for the Judge to read. This can allow the Judge to give you a more lenient outcome in court.

Character reference letters can come from yourself as an apology, family, friend and employer or colleagues. Our senior lawyers will review and guide you with each letter before handing it to the judge to read.

Negotiate to drop charges

By having a good understanding of the police evidence, you can then pick out all the problems in it to police. This allows you leverage to negotiate with police to drop or downgrade the charge.

To maximise your chances at achieving this, ensure to get a highly experience specialist fraud lawyer early in your case. Our team of lawyers have successfully convinced police to drop and downgrade these charges many times for over 20 years.

Negotiate facts

The police set of facts is what the Judge reads right before giving you a punishment. It is the document that expresses what you are pleading guilty to, and includes the level of planning and sophistication in doing it. As its often one sided drafted by police, it can be negotiated to make it more accurate and more favourable to you, often by putting you in a better light. This normally then results in a better court outcome with a lighter punishment.

Our senior lawyers often successfully negotiate and change the police set of facts to reflect the truth and paint their clients in a better light. They do this by knowing all the holes in the police case.

Psychologist reports

Getting a strong psychologist or psychiatrist court report from one of the leading top psychologists or psychiatrists in Australia can significantly improve your court outcome with a much more lenient punishment provided it expresses the main points.

Our lawyers will be able to pick out the best psychologist suited to your case, obtain a report to express your mental state, your insight, remorse and shame for the Judge to read, with an explanation for your offence.

Maximum penalty

If dealt with in the District Court, the maximum the District Court can give is a punishment of up to 5 years imprisonment. If dealt with in the Local Court, the maximum this court can give is a term of imprisonment of up to 2 years.

Court normally don’t give out maximum punishment. They are reserved for only the most serious of cases. The following explains other options of punishment available.

Types of penalties

The court can give you any one of the following different kinds of punishment. The one you get will depend on how you present and prepare your case, as explained above.

  1. Section 10 Dismissal
  2. Conditional Release Order
  3. Fine
  4. Community Correction Order
  5. Intensive Correction Order
  6. Full Time Imprisonment

Speak to one of our senior lawyers now. They specialise in fraud offences, and will give realistic and highly experienced advice and representation all around Sydney and NSW.

Call us now on (02) 8606 2218.