RAYMOND HOSER
41 VILLAGE AVENUE
DONCASTER VICTORIA 3108
AUSTRALIA
PHONE: 61 3 857-4491
MOBILE: 61 18 588-699
FAX: 61 3 857-4664
MARCH 4TH 1994

On February 18th, 1994, Victoria Police raided the above address and stole a substantial amount of material. Some has been returned since and as of March 4th 1994, some is still missing.

On February 25th, police returned one file which contained 18 sheets of paper (documents) and one tape. Also returned were four disks. These were 5.25 inch floppy disks. Two were for the book Smuggled-2 and 4 were for the book about Vicroads, Police and Judiciary, labelled ‘VRB 1-4’. None of this material was checked when returned, but was looked at on March 4th, when other returned material was also checked. A substantial quantity of material was returned on Tuesday March 1st, and all was checked on March 4th. With this material were police lists, which according to Lawyer Kathleen Ford, tallied with the material returned. However according to these lists and checking’s, some material was still being held by police. Furthermore there was no true indication of material being returned in that files marked with a given title and containing substantial material in the form of documents and similar were not itemised. Therefore it wasn’t possible to accurately gauge whether or not material had been removed from files. Some files were noticeably thinner however, (after what was returned had been re-organised into correct files).

Disks returned in boxes were out of order as were files and these took about ten hours to get back into order. Due to the logistics involved and the nature of filing systems used, it wasn’t feasible to check all disks for their integrity, nor was it possible to ascertain whether the contents of all files had been returned. In many cases, losses will only become apparent when a given document and/or disk are sought.

In terms of overall volume of material returned by police, it was substantially less than what was taken. This no doubt explains why police refused to allow Raymond Hoser to take photos during the ‘raid’ on February 18th. Below is a list of material still missing as of 4th March 1994 and material returned but damaged in some way. This list is NOT complete, but does include the majority of outstanding non-returned material.

• 2 or 3 boxes of 100 45c Endangered Animals postage stamps.
• 8 Blue boxes containing backup disks.
• Almost a full roll of fax paper removed from fax machine.
• One National RNZ36 Micro-cassette Recorder.
• One Sony Micro-cassette Recorder, with micro-cassette containing arrest of Hoser in afternoon of 18th Feb 1994.
• About 400 large cassettes of various things relating to Police, Vicroads, Court cases and similar.
• About 400 micro-cassettes of various things including court cases, Police, Vicroads and similar.
• Epsom LQ 2500+ printer and ribbon.
• Several packets of processed prints and negatives of Vicroads officers, Police and other things from files, including photos of Ross Bingley (Police), George Olsen, Derry Ashton, Peter Schofield, John Perry (All RTA/Vicroads), had been removed from a file returned labelled ‘RTA Officers - Photos’ (Only photocopy prints were returned in the file).
• Various loose papers and similar were removed from a set of drawers in my office and none of these appear to have been returned, except for a single wallet belonging to a taxi passenger from 1993, which I was holding by agreement. Among material missing was a PIN number for a Commonwealth Bank Card, (Savings Account).
• File marked 12-5-93 emptied except for two single pages.
• Several boxes of slides taken and missing. Also one box of slides returned half emptied. These were from a box containing photos of NPWS/NSW break in to house on 10th July 1984. That box had held about 36-7 slides and was returned with about 20 slides only.
• Missing file ‘Transcribed Tapes-1/1/89-1/9/89’.
• Missing files, several for past and forthcoming police cases in relating to incidents when driving a taxi. All files contained at least one large tape taken from micro-tape originals. Also missing was material from other files marked for police cases, being from files not removed on 18th Feb, 1994, but the actual files not taken. (On Friday March 4th, 1994, Magistrate Lauritson ordered Police to return a micro-tape marked ‘Police 22-8-93’ which had been seized by police on 18th Feb, and was admitted by them in court after phoning Moonee Ponds DSG Police for confirmation).
• Suction cap with special cord for taping phone calls which plugs into normal tape player.
• Cord from micro-tape player to large tape player.
• 5 files marked ‘Alan "NAME SUPPRESSED" Misc’.
• Press clipping index file, (for about 1500 clippings).
• Disk file index file.
• Single roll of exposed film from Pentax Camera containing photos of police officer Leo Keating, taken at about 10.25 AM 18th February 1994, outside Melbourne County Court.
• Unfiled letters files 1-31, excluding ‘24’ which was returned (which means 30 files missing here).
• Some files marked ‘RTA-Police-incoming mail (dated)’ are about half as thick as when taken.
• One brown suitcase which contained tapes is still missing.
• A number of boxes containing large tapes, (about 10).
• A large number of plastic and metal suspension (slide) files with micro-tapes affixed are also missing, (about 40).

DISKS MISSING OR DAMAGED ARE AS FOLLOWS:-

• 3 Disks marked AT from one box.
• 2 Disks marked AT from another box.
• Disk Marked SMU2-B Missing.
• Disk Marked VRB-4 wiped.
• Disk marked Death Adder Notes has been either dropped in water or heated and ruined.
• Excluding 55 backup disks in one box returned, two full sets are missing.
• This means there are 392-55 disks missing, which is 337, excluding the six marked above.

Not all disks held have been checked, but excluding above reports, all appear to be OK.

DAMAGED GOODS RETURNED ARE AS FOLLOWS:-

1. Computer Monitor has marks all over it, including on screen, as if it has been dropped and/or scratched and dragged on dirt. The Monitor itself no longer works properly with the picture shaking profusely and the picture appearing to have ‘cracks’ across the top of the screen.
1. The Computer itself (CPU), has been opened and screws are missing. Some buttons on the keyboard no longer work properly, in particular the ‘v’ button, which now has to be hit several times (usually) in order to get a character up on screen. Also the ‘caps lock’ light no longer works properly.
1. The fax machine now has several apparently intermittent faults, including failing to receive calls, paper jamming, transmitting and copying documents with a thick line down the page and giving a strong electrical shock when touched. The fax has also been opened with only two loose screws holding it together when returned. Furthermore some brown powdery material appeared to have been put inside the machine and some of the electrical circuitry appears to have been bent out of place.