Abetment Charges in Mule Account Cases

What does abetment mean?

Abetment makes you responsible for someone else’s crime if you helped it happen. Under Penal Code section 107, there are three forms: instigation, conspiracy and intentional aiding. ^[f1]

In mule account cases, prosecutors use abetment to reach people other than the account holder. You may face an abetment charge if you recruited someone to lend their account, told them how to move money, or linked a worker to a syndicate. It can be charged together with, or instead of, a direct mule account offence. ^[f3]

Your defence starts with knowing which form of abetment you are charged with.

The three forms of abetment

Abetment by instigation means urging or persuading someone to commit an offence. In mule cases this is aimed at the recruiter. If you told a friend, coworker or relative to let someone use their account, the prosecution may say you instigated it.

Abetment by conspiracy means agreeing with others to commit an offence. ^[f4] It is charged when the prosecution believes you were part of a planned mule scheme. The agreement does not have to be formal or written. Even informal talk about using accounts for transfers can be treated as conspiracy.

Abetment by intentional aiding means doing something that helps the offence happen, knowing it will. Passing on a contact or bank details, or showing someone how to set up online banking for a mule scheme, could fall here.

Why prosecutors add abetment charges

Abetment does two things for them.

First, abetment lets them charge people whose own accounts were never used. You may never have been a mule, but if you helped someone else become one, abetment can apply.

Second, the penalty is the same as for the main offence. ^[f2] Under section 109, if the offence is committed, an abettor receives the punishment for that offence. So abetting a section 424C offence carries the same possible sentence as 424C itself.

What must the prosecution prove?

Each form of abetment has its own elements.

• Instigation: that you actively urged or persuaded someone to commit the offence. A passing suggestion, or simply knowing about it, is not enough. ^[f5]
• Conspiracy: that you and at least one other person agreed to commit the offence. ^[f4] Knowing the people involved is not enough. There must be evidence of a shared plan.
• Intentional aiding: that you did something that helped the offence and meant to help. Help given by accident or without knowing does not count.

In every form, the prosecution must link what you did to the specific mule account offence charged. Vague involvement or simply knowing the people is not enough to prove abetment.

Common situations in mule cases

The recruiter. You introduced friends or coworkers to someone who paid to use their accounts. Even if you did not know the whole scheme, linking people to the syndicate can be charged as instigation or intentional aiding.

The middleman. You passed messages, collected ATM cards or carried cash between the syndicate and the mules. This can be charged as intentional aiding.

The unwitting connector. You told a friend that someone was looking for bank accounts, and your friend offered theirs. Whether that counts as abetment depends on what you knew and meant at the time.

Common defences to abetment charges

The defence depends on which form of abetment is charged. A lawyer will look at these points:

You did not know. If you did not know the activity was criminal, the prosecution’s case is weaker. The knowledge element matters for abetment just as for the main offence. Evidence that you were tricked or kept in the dark helps.

There was no agreement. For conspiracy, a lawyer will challenge whether any real agreement existed. ^[f4] Casual chats, social contact or being in the same place as the offenders do not prove one. ^[f5]

You did not take part. For instigation and aiding, a lawyer can argue your role was passive. Knowing about something is not the same as making it happen.

What to do if you are charged with abetment

Get a lawyer now. If the offence is committed, abetment carries the same penalty as the main offence, so it is serious. ^[f2] A lawyer who handles mule account cases will know how prosecutors run these cases and how to answer them.

Keep every message. Texts, emails and call logs that show what you knew, what you were told and when you found out are key evidence. Do not delete anything.

Do not contact anyone charged with you. Do not discuss the case with them. Any contact could be used as evidence of an ongoing conspiracy.

Write down your side of events. With your lawyer, set out your role, what you knew and when, and what you did once you saw something was wrong. This shapes your defence.

Sources

1. Low & Partners, “Keldai Accounts: When Helping a Friend Becomes a Criminal Offence” (2024)
2. Raj, Ong & Yudistra, “Unveiling the Mystery: When Your Bank Account Gets Frozen by the Law” (2024)
3. Penal Code, Sections 107, 108, 109 (Abetment provisions)