Indian-origin duo, jailed for enslaving Aussie woman, face fresh penalty

An Indian-origin couple currently serving jail terms in Australia for enslaving a woman for eight years has been slapped with a fresh penalty and ordered to forfeit the proceeds from the sale of their home, police said.

Kandasamy Kannan, 61, and his wife, Kumuthini, 58, have had the “proceeds of the sale of their home forfeited and ordered to pay AUD 140,000 (approx USD 90,874) in combined penalties to the state”, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a press release on Friday.

An Australian court in 2021 convicted Kannan and Kumuthini for enslaving a woman from India who had entered Australia on a tourist visa and sentenced them to six and eight years of imprisonment, respectively. AFP’s Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) restrained the couple’s house in Mount Waverley in 2016 after they were charged with slavery offences, the release said.

The house was sold for AUD 1.4 million in 2016. After paying the mortgage and sale expenses, Kannan and Kumuthi’s equity in the property of about AUD 475,000 was held by the Official Trustee and restrained before its forfeiture in 2022. About AUD 485,000 was granted to the victim in 2023 as an ex gratia payment, the release said.

The CACT also sought pecuniary penalty orders against the offenders for benefits obtained from the crime. In October this year, the woman agreed to pay AUD 100,000, and the man agreed to pay AUD 40,000, in addition to the forfeited equity and accrued interest.