How the Commissioner of the AFP can Prove a Fraud

Phillip Sweeney made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Federal Police

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was successful.

Dear Australian Federal Police,

I am seeking confirmation that the Australian Federal Police has received and retained a document with the title of

Exhibit M “How the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police can prove the Fraud”.

This document is dated 9 December 2014

I am seeking a copy of this document along with a copy of a letter to Commissioner Andrew Colvin APM OAM of the same date (AFP Ref: 5631483).

This letter makes reference to the advice of the then acting Assistant Treasurer, Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann, who provided advice to the victims of this fraud to contact the Australian Federal Police.

Yours faithfully,

Phillip Sweeney

FOI, Australian Federal Police

Thank you for your email.

Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.

This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.

If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.

If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.

Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...

The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.

The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131

show quoted sections

FOI, Australian Federal Police

1 Attachment

UNCLASSIFIED

Good Afternoon Mr Sweeney,

         

Your Freedom of Information Request

 

I refer to your email of 10 September 2016 in which you seek access to
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) as follows:

 

I am seeking confirmation that the Australian Federal Police has received
and retained a document with the title of Exhibit M “How the Commissioner
of the Australian Federal Police can prove the Fraud”.

This document is dated 9 December 2014. I am seeking a copy of this
document along with a copy of a letter to Commissioner Andrew Colvin APM
OAM of the same date (AFP Ref: 5631483).

 

Information considered irrelevant to the scope of your request

 

The AFP, in its management of FOI requests, excludes the following
information on the basis that is irrelevant to the scope of a request:

 

-      Names of AFP members, other than the Senior Executive.

-      Direct telephone numbers, signatures and mobile telephone numbers
of AFP members.

-      Duplicate documents, including duplicate emails.  The AFP will only
provide emails where they form a final email chain and the
authors/recipients are contained within the final email. 

-      Information that is publicly available, for example, newspaper
articles, online publications including information available on the AFP
Information Publication Scheme and the AFP disclosure log.

 

If you object to the AFP excluding any of the above information, please
advise this office within seven days of receipt of this letter.

 

Your request was received by this agency on 10 September 2016 and the 30
day statutory period for processing your request commenced from that date.

 

You will be notified of any charges in accordance with the Freedom of
Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations, should they apply, in relation
to your request as soon as practicable. 

 

Disclosure Log

 

Please be advised that in accordance with section 11C of the Act, an
agency is required to publish information on their website following the
notification of a decision in respect of a freedom of information
request. 

 

The requirement to publish information released under FOI reinforces the
objectives of the FOI Act to promote a pro-disclosure culture across
government and to increase recognition that information held by government
is a national resource.  Exceptions to the requirement to publish
information would apply to personal information and information concerning
the business affairs of a person if it was considered ‘unreasonable’ to do
so.  Details of the decision may be published in a Disclosure Log which
can be found at
[1]https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/informat....
Publication will be made in accordance with timeframes stipulated in
section 11C of the Act.

 

If, however, after noting the above, you wish to raise any concerns about
the publication of information concerning your request prior to the
notification of a decision, please advise this office in writing before 4
October 2016.  If you do not raise any concerns prior to the date of the
decision, the AFP will publish the information as notified to you in the
decision.

My apologies for the delay in sending this notification to you.

Yours sincerely

 

AFP22486
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
CHIEF COUNSEL PORTFOLIO

Tel +61(0) 2 6131 6131

[2]www.afp.gov.au

 

 

UNCLASSIFIED

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/informat...
2. http://www.afp.gov.au/

Phillip Sweeney

Dear FOI,

I have no objection to the items identified in the above email

Yours sincerely,

Phillip Sweeney

FOI, Australian Federal Police

Thank you for your email.

Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.

This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.

If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.

If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.

Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...

The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.

The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131

show quoted sections

Phillip Sweeney

Dear FOI,

This FOI request is now overdue. Might I ask you to expedite a reply.

Yours sincerely,

Phillip Sweeney

FOI, Australian Federal Police

Thank you for your email.

Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.

This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.

If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.

If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.

Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...

The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.

The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131

show quoted sections

FOI, Australian Federal Police

2 Attachments

UNCLASSIFIED

Good Afternoon Mr Sweeney,

         

Your Freedom of Information Request

 

I refer to your email of 10 September 2016 in which you seek access to
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) as follows:

 

I am seeking confirmation that the Australian Federal Police has received
and retained a document with the title of Exhibit M “How the Commissioner
of the Australian Federal Police can prove the Fraud”.

This document is dated 9 December 2014. I am seeking a copy of this
document along with a copy of a letter to Commissioner Andrew Colvin APM
OAM of the same date (AFP Ref: 5631483).

 

Please find attached a copy of the AFP decision in response to this
request.

My apologies for the delay in getting this response to you.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the AFP
FOI Team.

Kind Regards,

JESS      (AFP22486)
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
CHIEF COUNSEL PORTFOLIO

Tel +61(0) 2 6131 6131

[1]www.afp.gov.au

 

 

UNCLASSIFIED

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.afp.gov.au/

Phillip Sweeney

Dear Australian Federal Police,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Australian Federal Police's handling of my FOI request 'How the Commissioner of the AFP can Prove a Fraud'.

I note that the Australian Federal Police (AFP) did confirm in a decision letter dated 1 April 2015 that in April 2015 the AFP did have possession of a copy of the document titled "How the Commissioner of the AFP can Prove a Fraud" as of 1 April 2015.

However the scope of this FOI requested was whether this document has been retained by the AFP and had not been lost or destroyed.

In a letter dated 22 August 2016 {APF Ref: PROMIS 5981669} and APF Officer made the following representation:

"Following a review of the information provided by you, which fails to provide any details of offenders, suspects or entities etc, no proof that a Commonwealth offence has been identified. Therefore the matters raised are not with the jurisdiction of the AFP to investigate. The AFP will not take any further action in regards to this matter".

However details of offenders and offences where provided in the document entitled "How the Commissioner of the AFP can Prove a Fraud". Specific reference was made to a document dated 26 August 1986 {Exhibit I} which bears the signature of a convicted fraudster who was identified to the AFP as someone who was familiar to the Australian Crime Commission.

This letter dated 22 August 2016 is prima facie evidence that the document titled "How the Commissioner of the AFP can Prove a Fraud" whilst it was received by the AFP a year earlier may have been lost or destroyed.

Therefore to complete this current FOI request the AFP should confirm that this document is still in the possession of the AFP, even it a copy of this document is not re-released.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/h...

Yours faithfully,

Phillip Sweeney

FOI, Australian Federal Police

Thank you for your email.

Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.

This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.

If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.

If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.

Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...

The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.

The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131

show quoted sections

FOI, Australian Federal Police

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Sweeney

I refer to your enquiry about whether or not the documents you refer to have been retained by the AFP.

The documents you refer to remain in the possession of the AFP.

Noting the above, do you still require an internal review of your request?

Regards

JACQUELINE (AFP12306)
TEAM LEADER, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
CHIEF COUNSEL PORTFOLIO
Tel +61(0) 2 6131 6131
www.afp.gov.au

show quoted sections

Phillip Sweeney

Dear Jacqueline

You have answered my request so an internal review is no longer required.

Thank you for your assistance

Yours sincerely,

Phillip Sweeney

FOI, Australian Federal Police

Thank you for your email.

Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.

This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.

If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.

If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.

Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...

The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.

The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131

show quoted sections