‘Brazen’ ATO bribes land man behind bars
A man has been sentenced to three years and 14 days’ imprisonment for paying a bribe to a former ATO employer in exchange for personal and business tax debt crimes.
Raymond Shlemon has received a jail sentence of three years and 14 days for paying a bribe to Wenfeng Wei, a former employee of the ATO following an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
The bribe was paid in exchange for the reduction of millions of dollars in personal and business tax debts, classified information over a five-year period as well as the offer of a corrupt benefit in 2022.
Shlemon was convicted on 19 August 2024 by the District Court of NSW after he pleaded guilty in December 2023.
The court convicted Shlemon on two contraventions contrary to section 141.1(1) and 142.1(1) of the Criminal Code for bribing a Commonwealth public official and giving corrupting benefits to a Commonwealth public official.
In the investigation, it was found one instance of corrupt conduct occurred in August 2016 and involved Shlemon bribing Wei with $100,000 cash.
Based on case findings, Shlemon handed this cash to Wei at the Granville railway station in a white plastic bag.
The money was paid in exchange for Wei to significantly underwrite an audit of Shlemon and a business associated to him by millions of dollars.
According to the findings, the steps Wei took to achieve this also ensured no taxation penalties were imposed on Shlemon.
The court outlined the seriousness of the crime and labelled it as a ‘brazen’ act.
“The bribery of a Commonwealth Official is a very serious crime,” the court said.
“While a public official who accepts a bribe commits an offence involving a serious breach of trust, the conduct of the person bribing the official is not invariably less serious.
“The payment of the bribe on 19 August 2016 was incredibly brazen, involving the handing over of a cash bribe on a railway station to Wei.”
The conviction of Shlemon follows Wei’s five-year prison sentence in March 2024.
According to NACC, a third individual charged has pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the payment of a bribe and will appear in court to face a sentence in November 2024.
This case was prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The case stemmed from a joint investigation of the former Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity before it was transitioned to NACC and the ATO, known as ‘Operation Barker.’
This is the fourth conviction obtained in matters continued by the NACC since 1 July 2023.
Operation Barker was supported by the ATO, Australian Federal Police, NSW Police, the Department of Home Affairs, ASIC, and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.
