Australia, April 24 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement:
The application
On 31 July 2018, Stephen Barrett was issued with a Court Attendance Notice charging him with one count of blackmail contrary to s 249K of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). That offence carries a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment. Although it is an offence contrary to NSW law, Mr Barrett was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions ("CDPP") (by agreement with the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions ("DPP")) because his charge arose in the context of a large-scale taxation fraud investigated by the Australian Federal Police ("AFP") which I will refer to as "the Plutus Conspiracy".
Five years later,...