Magistrate James Lawton said Rahul Kumar Goda’s motivation for the offending remained “somewhat unclear”. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
A man who forged a letter, staged phone calls and created a fictional police investigation so he could defraud his friend out of thousands of dollars has been sentenced.
Rahul Kumar Goda faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday (4 July) for sentencing on four charges.
The court heard Goda altered a letter sent to him for an unrelated matter and, over a two-week period, defrauded his friend out of more than $8000 by claiming he was being investigated by Victorian Police.
On Friday, prosecutor Harry Wagner said Goda’s offending continued until he “had bled the victim financially dry”, and used “personal information [from their relationship] as part of the ruse”.
He asked the court for an immediate custodial sentence.
“The victim was led to believe that he was the target of a serious criminal investigation … [that is] distinguishable from each other comparative cases which I’ve put before the court [as part of the sentencing process],” he said.
Mr Wagner read out a statement on behalf of the victim, who wrote of how Goda’s “deeply distressing crime” had ongoing consequences.
“He [Goda] was someone I trusted deeply. He knew my circumstances, my limitations, my vulnerabilities – and he chose to take advantage of me anyway,” the victim wrote.
The victim had to borrow money from friends in the aftermath of the offending and remembered being unable to attend social events because he couldn’t afford them and how his mental health and studies suffered.
“I lost my social life, my sense of belonging and my peace of mind,” he wrote.
Legal Aid lawyer David Bloomfield urged the court against a full-time prison sentence.
“In my submission, while there is certainly a degree of both premeditation and sophistication, sophistication in particular is not a significant factor in this [offending],” he said.
He said his client had no criminal history and his rehabilitation would be best promoted by a suspended sentence.
“He is keen to make full reparations to the victim.”
In sentencing, Magistrate James Lawton said that Goda “took advantage” of the victim and there needed to be a period of imprisonment.
“It involved a fundamental breach of the victim’s trust,” he said.
“[The victim] gave evidence during the hearing and his victim impact statement that he had had, effectively, taken in Goda out of kindness.”
Magistrate Lawton described Goda’s motivation as “somewhat unclear”, but urged him to evaluate his use of alcohol and gambling.
For a charge of minor theft, Goda was given a one-month good behaviour order.
He was also handed an eight-month fully suspended sentence and a two-year good behaviour order for two charges of obtaining property by deception and one charge of using a false document.
As part of his sentence, he also has 24 months to repay the victim, in monthly repayments that Magistrate Lawton described as an opportunity for him to “effectively, put his money where his mouth is”.
if money is problem they could perhaps spend less on cocktail parties to schmooze with developers. View