Newcastle man charged for allegedly producing child abuse material

BY JARROD MELMETH

Australian Federal Police have charged a Newcastle man for allegedly producing child abuse material.

Authorities say the material featured a child known to the man who was allegedly uploading the footage to an online chat platform.

A search warrant was executed at the man's Shortland home on Thursday after the AFP received a report from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. The report identified a Kik user who was uploading child abuse material to the platform.

A 24-year-old man was arrested at his home in Shortland, where police seized three mobile phones that will be subject to further forensic examination.

The child allegedly featuring in the material has been identified and is safe and police say they are providing support to the victim and their family.

The Shortland man was charged with eight offence including Five counts of producing child abuse material, Two counts of possessing of controlling child abuse material, Using a carriage service to access child abuse material and Using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material.

He will face Newcastle Local Court on Friday.

AFP acting Sergeant Damian Mair said when a child is in danger, or an extreme risk of abuse, investigators will do everything they can to quickly identify the victim and remove them from harm.

“Our child protection investigators across the country are always ready to focus their efforts to cases where we have information that a child is at immediate risk of being abused by an adult.

“When a child has been abused, our priority is to get them out of a dangerous situation, prevent an offender from committing more abuse, and then bring that person to account for their deplorable criminal acts,” acting Sergeant Mair said.

Newcastle Man Facing Life Sentence Over Alleged Heroin Ring

 BY IAN CROUCH

A Newcastle man is facing a life sentence over his alleged involvement in an international drug smuggling syndicate.

Chinese officials alerted Australian Federal Police to suspicious packages destined for our shores.

254 blocks of heroin weighing 74 kilograms were found in vacuum sealed foil bags - they were replaced with an inert substance before 4 consignments were sent to their intended addresses in Australia - Three in Newcastle and one in Western Australia.

Officers then executed search warrants at Jesmond, Belmont, Lambton and The Hill, allegedly seizing a small amount of drugs and cash, drug paraphernalia and a mobile phone .

A 23-year-old man was arrested at The Hill - he's been charged with with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs.

He faced Newcastle Local Court on April 23 and has been refused bail to face court again next month.

Some of the Heroin seized by AFP officers Picture: AFP

Australian Federal Police Arrest Owner of Mayfield Burger Shop On People Smuggling Charges

BY ISABEL EVERETT

A Birmingham Gardens man is one of two men arrested by the Australian Federal Police over their alleged involvement in people smuggling ventures. 

Officers executed a search warrant of the Birmingham Gardens home on Tuesday, arresting 30-year-old Chinese National, Mu Fang, the owner of Mayfield's 'Mega Burgers'.

Image Credit: Australia247

It's alleged he, and a 31-year-old Queensland man arrested in Mareeba on Tuesday, were part of an international people smuggling network, where immigrants were forced to undertake a years worth of work without pay, forced into debt bondage to repay the criminal syndicate's costs for their journey. 

Investigations began in early 2020, when the AFP received information about an alleged people smuggling network attempting to transit illegal arrivals to Australia. 

In January 2020, Fang and the 31-year-old Queensland man were reportedly travelling in a vehicle in a remote area of the Northern Territory when their vehicle became stranded at a water crossing and Northern Territory Police were called. 

It's alleged they claimed they were in the area on a camping trip, however officers observed they were only carrying a carton of water and a small bag, leading Australian Federal police to believe they were acting as a "shore party" to meet a potential vessel carrying illegal arrivals. 

Officers executed a search warrant of Fang's home where they allegedly uncovered visa applications on a computer hard drive. 

Fang appeared before Newcastle court on Tuesday, and was refused bail and remanded in custody to reappear in court in September. 

AFP People Smuggling Arrest

Tuncurry Man Charged Over Allegedly Fraudulently Obtaining Disaster Relief Payments

BY ISABEL EVERETT

A 50-year-old Tuncurry man has been charged with allegedly fraudulently obtaining Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payments he was not entitled to related to the NSW Bushfires. 

The man allegedly dishonestly influenced Services Australia officials, by making claims for disaster payments and benefits on behalf of members of the public not adversely affected by the bushfires.

In November 2019, Services Australia received information from concerned community members and commenced an investigation into the man’s alleged activities.

 Australian Federal Police (AFP) joined the investigation in January, and on Wednesday, Services Australia investigators and AFP and NSW Police officers, executed a search warrant at the man’s residence in Tuncurry, NSW. 

On Thursday AFP officers arrested the man after information was received he was allegedly threatening potential witnesses.

Police will allege in court that the man was assisting members of the public to fraudulently obtain $1000 benefit payments by calling the hotline on their behalf.

He was charged with:

• Six counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception contrary to section 134.2(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which has a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

• One count of influencing a Commonwealth public official contrary to section 135.1(7) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which has a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

AFP Commander Eastern Region Investigation Kirsty Schofield said the AFP is committed to working closely with government agencies to identify people taking advantage of schemes designed to help vulnerable communities in a time of need.

“This arrest should serve as a reminder to those planning to take advantage of those programs in place to help Australians during these difficult times. This criminal activity will not be taken lightly, especially when it takes time, effort and money away from programs set up to help people at a traumatic time in their lives,” Cmdr. Schofield said.

The man has been remanded in custody to appear in court on Tuesday, 7 April 2020. 

Suspected welfare fraud can be reported via the “Reporting Fraud” page on the Services Australia website at servicesaustralia.gov.au/fraud, or by calling the Australian Government Services Fraud Tip-off Line on 13 15 24.

                                Image Credit: Australian Federal Police

Man Charged Over Bomb Hoax

BY MADELAINE MCNEILL

A man is due to face court today for making a hoax bomb threat against a flight from Mumbai to Singapore last month.

It's alleged the 39-year-old called Mumbai International Airport Limited from his Newcastle home on March 26 to report a bomb was on board the flight.

The hoax caused major delays to airlines and passengers in Singapore, and the Republic of Singapore Air Force was deployed to manage the issue.

The Australian Federal Police managed to identify the man and later located him at Sydney International Airport where he was arrested and charged with using a carriage service for hoax threat.