Indian-origin taxi driver Harmeet Singh who was jailed following recovery of a suitcase stashed with $500,000 in cash by police has had his sentence reduced on appeal.
In October 2013, Police had found a suitcase stashed with $500,000 in cash from Ringwood in Melbourne, which they suspected was part of money laundering operation.
Singh had collected this consignment from a US citizen in Melbourne, on behalf of an Indian associate.
Police had charged him of dealing with the proceeds of crime in an amount greater than $100,000, to which Singh had pleaded not guilty.
He pleaded not guilty on the basis that he did not know where this money was coming from and going to. The County Court jury in Melbourne had pronounced him guilty in March this year and sentenced him to 14 months in jail.
Singh appealed this verdict in the Victorian Appeals Court.
On Friday, the appeal court judges ruled that Singh had reasonably suspected the amount of money in the suitcase was less than $100,000.
The court quashed Singh’s original conviction and replaced it with a lesser offence of dealing with money reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime but of value lesser than $100,000, which carries a lower sentence.
Harmeet Singh's sentence was reduced to 10 months in prison, to be released after he has served six months.
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