A man who provided a $3.4 million kickback to Malaysian businessmen to ensure his student accommodation building was sold will not spend a day behind bars.
Boon "Dennis" Teen, 72, was in negotiations to sell his Melbourne site to a Malaysian government-owned investment company when contracts stalled in January 2013.
The Malaysian businessmen acting as intermediaries in the sale informed Teen he would need to pay them if he wanted the sale to go through.
That meant the site's sale price increased from the agreed $17.85 million to $22.6 million, with the extra $4.75 million going to the intermediaries.
About $3.4 million of the $4.75 million payment was considered to be illegitimate, given the intermediaries did not provide services to Teen's business Wanissa Properties.
Teen agreed to the deal but was concerned about how to document the payments for tax purposes.
So between March and August 2013, he helped the intermediaries draft four invoices.
Three of the invoices were considered to be false.
Federal police began investigating the student accommodation sale in 2015 and Teen was charged in July 2020.
He pleaded guilty to a single charge of false accounting in November 2024 following a sentence indication hearing in the Victorian County Court.
On Tuesday, Judge Michael O'Connell sentenced Teen to a wholly suspended prison term of 21 months behind bars.
The 72-year-old will need to be of good behaviour for the duration of his sentence otherwise he will be taken into custody.
Judge O'Connell described Teen's offending as serious, deliberate and sustained.
"What you did was cover up a kickback engineered by the Malaysian intermediaries at the detriment of the Malaysian government," he said on Tuesday.
But the judge accepted Teen did not instigate the offending, nor did he receive extra money or other benefits as a result of the agreement.
Judge O'Connell noted the student accommodation project had caused financial difficulties for Teen and his business, and the 72-year-old was eager to sell.
"The agreement was put to you when you were in a very vulnerable position," the judge said.
There have been "extraordinary" delays in the case and it was clear Teen had rehabilitated himself while the prospect of jail was hanging over his head, Judge O'Connell said.
"You have not put a foot wrong in over a decade," he said.
Teen was also in remission for renal cancer and required regular medication to ensure his condition did not deteriorate, so jail would be more difficult for him.
Judge O'Connell was satisfied a wholly suspended jail term was appropriate, given the nature of the offending, the delays, Teen's plea and personal circumstances.
Teen, who was supported in court by his wife, was expressionless as he learnt of his sentence.
