The married father, 48, had been free on bail since June, but is facing a custodial sentence which will be handed down on 23 November.
Appearing for Kachami, Philip Dunn QC acknowledged that his client would be “going to jail – it’s a matter of how long he goes to jail for”.
The court heard that Kachami agreed to conduct the 27 April robbery with his friend Daniel Ede – an employee at MGC – to “preserve his life and wealth”.
Kachami had amassed a multimillion-dollar property portfolio, though his primary source of income – a boarding house for international students in the prosperous inner-city suburb of Fitzroy – had been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“His whole house of cards which he was trying to hold up… has [now] been totally trashed,” The Age quotes Dunn as saying.
Dunn characterised his "naïve" client as a “bungling burglar” with no prior criminal convictions, who had initially dismissed Ede’s plan to rob MGC.
However, prosecutor Brett Sonnet rejected that characterisation, saying, “The intent was to steal from a business premise in the city... the intent was to steal a large amount of money.
“Both men played for very high stakes. In terms of gravity of offending, it is at the highest end of the scale."
The court heard that careful planning went into the heist, including hiring a car, multiple trips to a hardware store, and obtaining stolen number plates. Kachami also wielded a firearm during the robbery, though CCTV footage later showed that the weapon was not loaded.
Judge Howard Mason questioned Kachami’s decision to take part in the heist instead of selling his properties.
A witness impact statement from Michael Kukulka, owner of Melbourne Gold Company, was also read at the hearing. Kukulka had known Ede for 15 years and said the crime had left him distrustful and afraid, having lost his “faith in mateship”.
He added that his business had suffered as a result of the robbery, as customers no longer felt his premises were secure.
Ede was arrested in May and pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and theft earlier this month. He remains in custody and at the time of publication was yet to be sentenced.
While police have recovered the majority of the stolen goods, more than $300,000 remains missing.
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