Ted Dobson: Perth lawyer caught up in global Operation Ironside sting admits possessing $127,465 in dodgy cash

October 21

A Perth lawyer caught up in a global sting that brought down dozens of organised crime figures has pleaded guilty to possessing cash believed to have been unlawfully obtained.

Ted Dobson followed his high-profile barrister father Terry into the law, and they worked closely together until the former detective died suddenly in May 2021.

It shocked Perth’s legal community and left his son as the sole practitioner at his law firm.

But Ted Dobson soon found himself in legal hot water, charged by Australian Federal Police after they raided his offices and home as part of Operation Ironside.

He was due to stand trial in the District Court of WA on Monday, charged with bringing into – or while in WA – receiving, possessing, concealing, disposing of or dealing with the proceeds of crime.

But defence counsel Nick Scerri said that after negotiations with State prosecutors, his client would plead guilty to the lesser charge of possessing cash reasonably expected of being unlawfully obtained.

Camera IconDobson pictured at the WA District Court with his lawyer Nick Scerri. Credit: Michael Wilson/The West Australian

The court was told that Dobson was found with $127,465 in Bentley in December 2019 and Mr Scerri said the facts were agreed by the two sides in their entirety.

However, the working relationship Dobson had with his father would be explored in arguing mitigating circumstances at a sentencing hearing on February 25, Mr Scerri said.

He said the State’s position would be that only an immediate term of imprisonment was appropriate, but privately commissioned “materials” by a well-known expert may change that view.

It was such a “significantly unusual” case that an immediate jail term was not necessary, Mr Scerri argued.

The court was previously told that the money was payments Dobson received for performing legal work for the Comanchero bikie gang.

While Judge Craig Astill was to preside the trial, it will be Chief Judge Julie Anne Wager who decides Dobson’s sentence.

He is still certified as a legal practitioner, with efforts by the Legal Practice Board to take action against him challenged in the State Administration Tribunal.

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