By Tammy Mills
A lawyer convicted of laundering money allegedly given to him by a man accused of the notorious Richmond road gang robbery will spend at least three years behind bars.
Judge Phillip Coish sentenced John Anile, 58, to a maximum five years imprisonment with a minimum of three years in the Melbourne County Court on Friday.
Judge Coish took into account Anile’s previous good character.
Anile, a well-known solicitor from Williamstown, was found guilty by a jury of obtaining financial advantage by deception and laundering $400,000 allegedly given to him by former kickboxing champion Percy Lanciana in 1994.
The case against Anile was part of Operation Tideland, a taskforce that investigated a slick armed robbery crew that was behind one of Melbourne’s most notorious heists.
In the 1994 Richmond heist, syndicate members dressed as road workers allegedly held up an Armaguard truck to steal $2.4 million.
According to court documents, Anile was caught in a covert recording in 2013 saying to a witness; “I know exactly where the f—ing money came from”.
In another meeting, the witness speculated the money came from a train robbery, to which Anile replies: “You don’t have to be a genius. They had a bunch of cash and they did not work.”
Mr Lanciana was charged with the Richmond robbery last year. He will contest the accusations at a committal hearing in October.
The Age
