The son of a prominent former Liberal politician has escaped prison after admitting to running a lucrative drug trafficking business on the dark web under the name ‘AusCokeKing’.
Mark Chikarovski, son of Kerry Chikarovski, the first female leader of the NSW Liberal Party, was released from Sydney’s Downing Center court on Friday.
The court heard how he used drug money to buy an eight-figure luxury property in an exclusive enclave just four days before he was caught selling drugs to undercover officers.
He was arrested in May 2023 and eventually pleaded guilty to a series of drug charges involving providing drugs online in exchange for cryptocurrency, but he won’t spend another day in jail after being sentenced to house arrest.
When officers first arrested him at an apartment complex at Bondi Junction in Sydney’s east, they found large quantities of cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamine, as well as $269,000 in cryptocurrency.
Chikarovski was caught wearing gloves and packing cocaine and MDMA into envelopes ready to mail when officers attacked.
He had bought an $11.5 million property in Vaucluse in February 2023, just days before he unknowingly sold drugs to an undercover police officer in a sale that would lead to the raid, and two weeks later he bought another property in Bellevue Hill selling for $12.5 million.
Judge Jane Culver said she was allowing him to serve a corrections order instead of a prison sentence because he had shown a commitment to rehabilitation, had previously been of good character, had insight into his own offending and had suffered consequences for the mental health from his time already spent in prison.
Judge Jane Culver said she believes the “heartache” Chikarovski has caused his family will deter him from reoffending (photo Chikarovski and his mother)
Mark Chikarovski, the son of former NSW Liberal Party leader Kerry Chikarovski, was sentenced to house arrest after pleading guilty to a string of drug offenses
Chikarovski claimed he sold the substances to pay off the debts he incurred to finance his own drug addiction.
But prosecutors said that was inconsistent with his lavish lifestyle, which included buying multimillion-dollar properties, splurging on two Porsches and sending his children to an expensive private school.
Prosecutors argued that the millions of dollars he made from the Bellevue Hill house could have easily covered the alleged $150,000 he owed to dealers.
So does Judge Culver noted that Chikarovski was at high risk of attack while in prison and had received threats of violence, which she called “a very disturbing matter.”
Lawyer Phillip Boulton SC, who previously claimed his client’s upbringing with his mother in the public light had negatively affected him, admitted Chikarovski’s decision-making was ‘stupid’.
But he argued that a range of mental disabilities reduced his moral culpability for the crime, while he had also been exposed to severe trauma as a child.
“The fact is that he suffered from ADHD, a trauma-based anxiety disorder, distortions in his personality traits and various aspects of substance abuse,” Mr Boulton said.
Chikarovski claimed he sold the substances to pay off debts he incurred financing his own drug addiction, but prosecutors said a recent multi-million dollar home sale could have paid off his debts.
Chikarovski was caught after making a number of drug deals with an undercover police officer in the first four days after buying his Vaucluse pad.
Police said the 38-year-old has received cryptocurrency in exchange for banned drugs thousands of times since 2017.
Chikarovski used the dark web as what prosecutors called “an online storefront,” regularly promoting his drugs as “premium, European-imported MDMA” and “premium-grade cocaine.”
Dealing drugs, rather than downsizing his home or selling a car, was done to prevent his family from knowing about his own use, the lawyer added.
Judge Culver described the offense as “much more sophisticated than the average street dealer” due to his use of the dark web, his ability to advertise and the protection he received using cryptocurrency.
He was arrested in May 2023 for supplying drugs on the dark web under the username ‘AusCokeKing’ in exchange for cryptocurrency
“Unlike a street dealer, I am confident that the perpetrator’s activities allowed him to advertise (his company) … secure users on the dark web without having to have trusted customers.”
The judge imposed a 35-month prison sentence as a correction order, including 18 months of house arrest and 500 hours of community service.
He was also given a 16-month prison sentence, although he has already served the eight-month non-parole period.
Chikarovski would be in violation of his order if he recidivated, used illegal drugs or failed to comply with his treatment program.
“He knows the pain he has caused his family… he has shattered the sense of stability they deserve,” the judge said.
“It can be tempting to use a high-profile individual with apparently significant assets as a means of sending a message to the community… The law requires that the sentencing not use this offender as the usual means of sending this message to steer.’
Chikarovski is the son of Kerry Chikarovski, who served as the state’s Liberal leader from 1999 to 2002 as the state’s first female opposition leader and regularly comments on political issues on ABC’s The Drum show.
She has since founded her own consultancy Chikarovski & Associates and is director of home delivery meal service Tender Loving Cuisine.
Ms Chikarovski also sits on the boards of a number of different organizations including NSW Rugby Union, Adopt Change, is an ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and had a weekly radio show between 2012 and 2014 entitled Chat with Chika.