Lonely man conned

LONELINESS has been identified as the reason a man was lured into a money laundering scheme and fraudulently transferred thousands of dollars.

Malcolm James Balch was contacted by a woman via social media last year and was eventually convinced to receive a sum of money into his bank account after his new friend claimed she did not have one of her own.

Warwick District Court was told the 50-year-old received the funds and then transferred them in three lots of $3000 to another account between October 6 and 14, 2020.

He was offered $150 as payment and transferred the amount into another of his accounts.

Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso said the funds came from a transportation company in Victoria that was paying a supplier for work uniforms.

She said the two businesses had been discussing payment processes via emails, and at one point the message chain was hacked and Balch’s bank account details were sent to the Victorian company instead.

“It’s not suggested Mr Balch had any involvement in that aspect of it. From there, however, the complainant had, in speaking to their suppliers, recognised the issues and made a complaint,” Ms Kelso said.

Once the fraudulent transactions had been identified, the bank put through a reversal and retrieved $6521 of the stolen funds, leaving $3099 outstanding.

Ms Kelso said it was Balch’s inadvertent participation that led to him being charged with a lesser crime than those who intentionally laundered funds.

“When police identified to him what sort of 40-year-old employed nurse might not have a bank account, he said he should have clicked but he was just trying to be nice,” Ms Kelso said.

“He said he had some concerns once and wondered how he could stop it, but the next thing he knew Heritage (Bank) was on to him and froze his account.”

Balch appeared in court with no previous criminal history and had not spent any time in custody since being charged in February.

Judge Suzanne Sheridan acknowledged Balch was inadvertently lured into the offending and said it was likely that his loneliness made him an easier target.

Balch pleaded guilty to one count of recklessly engaging in money laundering.

He was placed on probation for 12 months and no conviction was recorded.