# Neil Simpson story in Telegraph today...



## Pythoninfinite (Sep 9, 2013)

The story on Neil Simpson's recent court appearances and his conviction last week is in today's Daily Telegraph...

Jamie


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## champagne (Sep 9, 2013)

No Cookies | thetelegraph.com.au

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http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wes...ction-overturned/story-e6frg13u-1226120596647


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## andynic07 (Sep 9, 2013)

$20 000 seems like a small price to pay considering the value of some of the reptiles he had.


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## Pythoninfinite (Sep 9, 2013)

The interesting thing is that identity theft and fraud are the main game for this man - DoEH investigators and police uncovered a treasure trove of stuff which has yet to see the light of day. 

"Investigators uncovered a suburban snake pit downstairs and an identity fraud factory upstairs when they raided an ordinary-looking Padstow home last year."

He was jailed for fraud in 2000, but it seems he's a hard learner... It's tough on his family.

Jamie


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## Grogshla (Sep 9, 2013)

They should have fined him way more.


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## Pythoninfinite (Sep 9, 2013)

Unfortunately there are limits on the fines that can be imposed, and he would have received some concession for pleading guilty. He may even have got a custodial sentence, given his history, if he didn't plead guilty. I'm sure his highly-paid legal team (QC, barrister) would have told him it was in his interests to plead guilty.

He pleaded not guilty in Perth for his WA offence, was found guilty, then appealed the guilty decision in the Supreme Court, only to have to fork out $15,000 when his appeal was dismissed as ridiculous.

I just received a note from a friend of mine in Perth who's a forensic accountant with the Australian Crime Commission to say that the matter has been widely circulated to agencies around the country.

Jamie


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## andynic07 (Sep 9, 2013)

Pythoninfinite said:


> Unfortunately there are limits on the fines that can be imposed, and he would have received some concession for pleading guilty. He may even have got a custodial sentence, given his history, if he didn't plead guilty. I'm sure his highly-paid legal team (QC, barrister) would have told him it was in his interests to plead guilty.
> 
> He pleaded not guilty in Perth for his WA offence, was found guilty, then appealed the guilty decision in the Supreme Court, only to have to fork out $15,000 when his appeal was dismissed as ridiculous.
> 
> ...



Out of interest was the fine only for the reptiles or did that also encompass the fraud?


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## Pythoninfinite (Sep 9, 2013)

Mostly to do with using false identities to hide his real ID in reptile transactions I believe. There's no doubt he'll feel that he's the victim here, but identity theft is not a victimless crime - he has left a trail of wreckage wherever he goes, and the wrecking intensifies as he's being held to account.

Jamie


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## Pauls_Pythons (Sep 9, 2013)

andynic07 said:


> $20 000 seems like a small price to pay considering the value of some of the reptiles he had.



2k + 9k costs


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## Pythoninfinite (Sep 9, 2013)

He was fined overall $21,000 plus $18,000 costs for his NSW offences. I think the $2K + $9K was for his WA offence, which after appeal cost another $4K, $15K all up.

Jamie


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## The Reptile Outlet (Sep 9, 2013)

This has been a long time coming.


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## Justdragons (Sep 9, 2013)

is this the bloke who over time has ripped off a lot of aps members?


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## Snowman (Sep 9, 2013)

Guessing now is a bad time to ask for my RA subscription refund


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## Pythoninfinite (Sep 9, 2013)

Snowman said:


> Guessing now is a bad time to ask for my RA subscription refund



You'd probably be guessing right Snowy ! Although I'm surprised he's not still promising "Issue 3 will be out next week, with Issue 4 to follow shortly thereafter..." That was the promise for months, even though Issue 2 was 6 months late. It's a pity to joke about it now, because the potential was huge if the focus was developing the magazine instead of waging vendettas against imagined threats. If it had all gone as originally planned and it was built on sound finances, it would be the best herp magazine in the world today, but he first kicked the Kuligowskis in the teeth, and progressively everyone else who had an interest in its success, including me. 

Jamie


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## Bluetongue1 (Sep 9, 2013)

Thanks for the laugh, Snowman. Very clever!


His legal team did a job and a half to keep him out of jail as he was gone for all money. One can only wonder who convinced him to get the best legal advice this time around. Probably family. It certainly would have cost. As Jamie pointed out elsewhere, a Queen’s Counsel is extremely expensive. I think the other thing to bear in mind is that part of the penalty is the confiscation of all illegally held or illegally obtained reptiles, with zero recompense. That is a loss of big bucks straight out of his pocket and it will hurt.

Blue


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## champagne (Sep 9, 2013)

I think there should be a life ban from owning reptiles, If you are convicted of being involved in smuggling. whether you smuggled them yourself or just brought them once they were here. Its disgusting what people will do to animals for money and there are a couple of people that have been convicted of this, they get a slap on the wrist and then continue to breed/keep large collections. the fine is a joke if he had sold just the albino boa it would of covered the lot...


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## RedFox (Sep 9, 2013)

If everyone who had bought an imported animal or progeny of an imported animal were banned for life, there would be a lot less people in this hobby... 

Good to see the authorities being proactive hopefully it continues.


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## Pythoninfinite (Sep 9, 2013)

btsmorphs said:


> I think there should be a life ban from owning reptiles, If you are convicted of being involved in smuggling. whether you smuggled them yourself or just brought them once they were here. Its disgusting what people will do to animals for money and there are a couple of people that have been convicted of this, they get a slap on the wrist and then continue to breed/keep large collections. the fine is a joke if he had sold just the albino boa it would of covered the lot...



Actually I think you'll find that albino Boas are a pretty much a dime a dozen - not much more expensive than normal coloured ones. To my knowledge he has never had a keeper's licence in NSW, and probably has never aspired to. His wife has been the licence holder. This is a manipulative and narcissistic individual with a massive and misplaced sense of entitlement, couldn't care less who he hurts as he slimes his way through his and other people's lives. Chameleon Geckos are one species he was especially interested in, and are worth a lot of money here and overseas - worth a lot more than albino Boas.

Jamie


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## Bluetongue1 (Sep 9, 2013)

Pythoninfinite said:


> ...I just received a note from a friend of mine in Perth who's a forensic accountant with the Australian Crime Commission to say that the matter has been widely circulated to agencies around the country.





Pythoninfinite said:


> Jamie


 The obvious conclusion to be drawn from this is that the police agencies believe he is at high risk of offending again. Given that these agencies spend their professional lives dealing with such individuals at a level that allows them to discern recalcitrant recidivists from redeemable individuals, it reflects very poorly on Neil.

Blue


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## Pythoninfinite (Sep 10, 2013)

Mike, despite his early suggestions that these charges would "come to nothing," he was obviously worried about the potential for conviction, indicated by his choice of very expensive representation, and I suspect his pleading guilty was based on legal advice, as I understand a custodial sentence was a possibility. Simpson seems to have access to very large sums of money from time to time, so I doubt if he feels much pain in that regard. Easy come, easy go...

Jamie


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## champagne (Sep 10, 2013)

RedFox said:


> If everyone who had bought an imported animal or progeny of an imported animal were banned for life, there would be a lot less people in this hobby...
> 
> Good to see the authorities being proactive hopefully it continues.


It would of cut down on the progeny of the imports being so wide spread.

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Pythoninfinite said:


> Actually I think you'll find that albino Boas are a pretty much a dime a dozen - not much more expensive than normal coloured ones. To my knowledge he has never had a keeper's licence in NSW, and probably has never aspired to. His wife has been the licence holder. This is a manipulative and narcissistic individual with a massive and misplaced sense of entitlement, couldn't care less who he hurts as he slimes his way through his and other people's lives. Chameleon Geckos are one species he was especially interested in, and are worth a lot of money here and overseas - worth a lot more than albino Boas.
> 
> Jamie



Im not up on what exotics are worth over here but more point is that the fine is very small compared to the crime IMO.


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## Pythoninfinite (Sep 10, 2013)

The fines I believe were the biggest so far ever levied in NSW for wildlife offences, and relate primarily to the use of phoney identities in the import and export of reptiles to and from NSW, and I guess to cover his tracks, so they really relate to matters of fraud - it always seems to get back to fraud. Simpson has lived and operated in the shadows for many years. I would say that his move to publish a herp magazine made some public exposure unavoidable. Within 12 months it became very obvious why he does better in the shadows than he does in public - the wheels fell off his wagon in spectacular fashion. You can see in the article you so kindly uploaded btsmorphs that he was convicted earlier this year of the possession of 526 documents relating to fake identities - as I said earlier, he has an enormous sense of entitlement. The thing he will hate most about this (apart from me lol!) will be the public exposure. He's been caught up in his own web of lies and deceit, but it's a way of life for him.

Jamie


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## Skeptic (Sep 10, 2013)

I was always under the impression that keeping exotics carried a fine around the $70k mark. I swear I read that somewhere. Is that what's on paper but never implemented, or are the maximum fines much less?


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## Pythoninfinite (Sep 12, 2013)

Skeptic said:


> I was always under the impression that keeping exotics carried a fine around the $70k mark. I swear I read that somewhere. Is that what's on paper but never implemented, or are the maximum fines much less?



I believe the fines max out at $110K for exotics , but I think that's Federal legislation (they cover exotics), and I don't know of any coming close to this. The charges Simpson faced last week primarily relate to breaching NSW import and export laws using false IDs I believe. I'm sure the details are on the public record somewhere, just as his earlier convictions for fraud will be. 

Jamie


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