The five-figure amount central to a delay in proceedings was revealed in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday by Justice Anthony Payne,who noted it came from a letter sent by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department,seen by this masthead.
Siblings Lauren and Adam Cranston,pictured in 2022,have both been found guilty over their roles in the Plutus Payroll fraud.Oscar Colman
of conspiring with others to dishonestly cause a loss to the Commonwealth and conspiring to deal with more than $1 million believing it to be the proceeds of crime. He faced a marathon trial alongside four others;all were found guilty of the same charges.
Cranston,who appeared via video link from custody in a hi-vis vest and prison greens,is the son of former Tax Office deputy commissioner Michael Cranston,who is not accused of any wrongdoing.
The judge was “flabbergasted” to be told last week for Cranston’s sentencing,after paying for his legal team throughout the trial including barrister John Stratton,SC.
Barrister Robert Ranken,appearing for Dreyfus’ department on Tuesday,said the position “remains as conveyed”.
Payne responded that it was “really quite undesirable”.
Cranston’s assets and finances were frozen in 2017,the year of his arrest. Despite earlier refusals for assistance,he received Commonwealth legal aid from May 2021. A source with knowledge of the funding,not authorised to speak publicly,said it had surpassed $1 million before Cranston was convicted.
The judge said it was a question of whether the Commonwealth attorney,after funding “literally weeks” of preparation for Cranston’s trial and 173 days of the trial and deliberations,would continue funding two or three days of sentence preparation and a half-day hearing or whether that responsibility was transferred to the state.
The letter from Drefyus’ department lists preparation and attendance of senior counsel and a solicitor at Cranston’s sentencing as costing $37,672.88,and a separate $11,500 for disbursements including psychological and psychiatric reports and subpoenas.
Both grant items were marked “disallowed” by reason that they did not meet the purpose of the department’s special circumstances scheme.
A separate amount of $16,363.30 was approved as a retrospective payment to Cranston’s trial barrister.
“Mr Cranston may wish to consider applying for a grant of legal aid with Legal Aid NSW for costs associated with his sentencing,” the letter reads.
The judge said his chambers had received an email from Legal Aid NSW advising a decision on a pending application made by Cranston could not be expected until early June.
He said if legal aid from the Commonwealth was replaced by Legal Aid NSW funding,there was a risk that new counsel would have to be briefed to represent Cranston.
The cost to the community “would be exponentially higher” if someone else had to acquaint themselves with issues from the lengthy trial,and “may result in duplication and a waste of scarce public resources”,the judge said.
Payne said there was a public interest in the court proceeding to sentence quickly,noting it was “one of the most serious federal tax offences ever successfully prosecuted in this country”.
“It’s the community I’m worried about here,” the judge said.
He said he was also obliged to ensure there was no unfairness to the accused and that a fair sentence hearing occurred.
Payne stressed the importance of general deterrence in sentencing,“to send a message to others who might be tempted to steal from the tax system that the courts will not tolerate that behaviour”.
“The longer the sentence hearing for Mr Cranston is delayed ... the more diluted that message of general deterrence will become,” he said.
From left to right:Jason Onley,Adam Cranston,Lauren Cranston,Patrick Willmott and Dev Menon.Brook Mitchell,Oscar Colman,Rhett Wyman
He said he accepted in an “ordinary” Commonwealth case prosecuted in NSW courts,the legal aid funding responsibility rested with Legal Aid NSW.
“This is not an ordinary or usual case,” Payne said.
He adjourned the matter until June 13.
Cranston and his conspirators skimmed PAYG (pay as you go) withholding tax and GST from money received from legitimate clients of business Plutus Payroll instead of remitting it to the Tax Office.
Plutus and eight second-tier companies within its structure should have paid more than $141.3 million of PAYG and GST between March 2014 and May 2017,but $105 million was misappropriated.
At trial the Crown said that Adam Cranston used funds on luxury cars including by Mercedes and Porsche,a plane,and properties at Miranda and Burraneer in Sydney’s south and Vacy in the Hunter.
Cranston and former professional snowboarder Jason Onley were among the architects of the scheme,while solicitor Dev Menon was a “significant participant” who coached them to lie,the judge has previously said. Onley and Menon are due to face sentence hearings in June.
Cranston’s sister,30-year-old Lauren Cranston,was for her role in the scheme including a personal gain of $181,000.
Patrick Willmott,who at times considered himself the “chief financial officer” and pocketed $498,000,,and a non-parole period of six years.
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