Australia Fees 4 Over $123M Crypto Cash Laundering Ring – Decrypt

Australian police have charged 4 over their alleged involvement in a Queensland-based cash laundering community that’s accused of shifting $123 million in illicit money into crypto.

On June 5–6, the Australian Federal Police (AFP)‑led Felony Belongings Confiscation Taskforce (CACT), alongside the Queensland Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (QJOCTF) and different companies, executed 14 focused raids throughout Brisbane and the Gold Coast following an 18-month federal investigation, in line with a Monday assertion from the Australian Taxation Workplace.

Investigators uncovered crypto estimated at $110,370, together with $30,000 in bodily money, encrypted units, enterprise paperwork, automobiles, properties, and financial institution accounts.

Authorities allege the scheme funneled drug cash and prison proceeds by a Gold Coast safety firm that supplied armored transport companies, then washed the funds utilizing shell companies, basic automobile gross sales, and crypto exchanges.

The corporate is accused of changing large volumes of bodily money into crypto to obscure its origins.

‘We allege this organisation deliberately hid and disguised the supply, worth and nature of their illicit cash, and distanced themselves from the funds to attempt to keep away from getting caught by authorities,” mentioned AFP Detective Superintendent Adrian Telfer in a Monday assertion.

A 32-year-old man from Heathwood in Brisbane, accused of laundering $6.16 million over 15 months, has been remanded in custody and is showing in court docket in the present day.

Authorities declare he used a gross sales promotion firm, registered in his spouse’s title as a “straw director,” to obtain funds from the safety firm.

The corporate’s director and normal supervisor, each from Maudsland, had been granted bail after being charged with dealing in proceeds of normal crime value over $6.4 million.

A 58-year-old West Finish man, linked to a basic automobile dealership accused of washing $4.1 million, additionally faces a number of cash laundering fees.

Crypto and cash laundering

The case reveals how crypto is more and more used to cover illicit funds, with Australian authorities warning it is a favored software for organized crime.

CACT has restrained over $110 million in belongings previously 12 months, a lot of it crypto-related, bringing complete seizures since 2019 to $1.2 billion.

In July 2024, the AFP-led CACT restrained $333,779 in crypto as a part of a $10.1 million asset seizure within the Gold Coast cash laundering case.

The restrained belongings additionally included seven properties value $8.4 million, $1.12 million in money, and over $76,000 held throughout a number of financial institution accounts.

Final month, a Queensland man forfeited a $2.9 million portfolio, together with a waterfront mansion and almost 25 BTC, after AUSTRAC, Australia’s monetary intelligence company, flagged suspicious exercise linked to a 2013 crypto theft.