Charges Dropped Against Indian Man Over Smuggling Fake Journalists into Australia

Charges against an Indian man accused of smuggling a contingent of fake journalists into Australia during the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games have been dropped due to insufficient evidence.

It is said that Rakesh Kumar Sharma allegedly led a group of fake journalists to the Commonwealth Games. Although he is being released, he faces deportation.

Sharma is in Australian custody since March, when he was arrested at the Brisbane International Airport, along with eight other Indian nationals, Australian broadcaster ABC wrote on its site.

At the time of his arrest, Australian Border Force (ABF) said that the men traveling with Sharma had fraudulent credentials to cover the sporting event, after an ABF airline liaison officer in Bangkok flagged the group as “non-genuine travelers,” ABC wrote.

According to ABF officials, the group was Commonwealth Games imposters.

According to ABC, after his arrest, Sharma was facing up to 20 years in prison for one count of aggravated people smuggling and one count of aggravated providing false documents relating to non-citizens.

He appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court Dec. 1o for the start of a committal hearing on the false documents charge.

But the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) told the court the case would not be proceeding and Sharma was told he would be released from custody, ABC said. He now faces deportation.

“Prior to committal, the CDPP reviewed the evidence that was available to be put before the court and assessed it accordance with the prosecution policy of the Commonwealth,” a CDPP spokesperson said. “It was determined that given the available evidence there was now no reasonable prospect of conviction.”

The people-smuggling charge against Sharma was discontinued in June when the DPP decided there was “no reasonable prospects of conviction on that charge,” ABC wrote.