19:07 EDT, 8 April 2021
A veteran Sydney journalist s threat to expose the masterminds behind an alleged million-dollar tax fraud was done to blackmail them, a jury has head.
When Stephen Barrett listed his 39 years of reporting credentials for Channel 7, Channel 9 and ABC investigations in a meeting recorded by police, it wasn t purely for journalistic purposes, crown prosecutor Patricia Mcdonald said in her opening address.
The surveillance device installed in Clamenz Lawyers firm at the MLC building in Sydney picked up Barrett talking about a very serious story I want to investigate .
Veteran Sydney journalist Stephen Barrett s (pictured) threat to expose the masterminds behind an alleged million-dollar tax fraud was done to blackmail them, a jury has head
Reporter accused of taking cash in blackmail conspiracy Veteran television reporter Steve Barrett is accused of receiving up to $3000 cash for his alleged role in a blackmail conspiracy.
Crime by Natalie O’Brien, Senior Reporter 8th Apr 2021 7:43 PM
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Subscriber only Veteran television reporter Steve Barrett is accused of receiving up to $3000 cash for his alleged role in a blackmail conspiracy designed to reap $5 million from a group of alleged payroll fraudsters. The NSW Supreme Court was told on Thursday Mr Barrett, with two co-accused Daniel Hausman and Daniel Rostankovski, was part of a joint criminal enterprise hatched in February 2017 to demand money from the fraudsters allegedly behind a large-scale tax fraud involving the son of the then ATO deputy commissioner.
It s a trial with all the hallmarks of a great blockbuster
movie.
Two siblings, Adam and Lauren Cranston, whose father is the
former deputy commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO),
along with lawyer Dev Menon and referrer Jay Onley, are on trial after pleading not guilty to
being involved in scheme that defrauded the Commonwealth of more
than $105 million between March 2014 and May 2017.
Over a dozen charged
More than a dozen people were charged in relation to the alleged tax
fraud in 2017, and four have already been sentenced for
their involvement in the scheme.
Authorities have described the operation as one of the