Changjiang Currency Exchange arrests: Seven named as Federal Police dismantle $230m alleged money laundering operation
From private jets to expensive wine, new details have emerged about the lavish high-end lifestyles of seven alleged criminal gang members as they are named in court.
October 26, 2023 – 3:31PM
AFP takes down alleged sophisticated Chinese money laundering syndicate
AFP alleges the Changjiang Currency Exchange was a front for an elaborate money laundering syndicate, allegedly laundering at least $229 million of illegal funds.
Alleged Chinese gang members accused of laundering almost $230m through shopfronts across Australia drove around in $400,000 cars, flew on private jets, drank saki and wine valued at tens of thousands of dollars and dined at high-end restaurants, according to law-enforcement officials.
But the lavish high-end living is now on hold for seven alleged syndicate members after the Australian Federal Police swooped to bust up the network, seizing more than $50m worth of property and luxury cars in an investigation into the alleged money laundering operation “hiding in plain sight”.
Husband and wife duo Jing Zhu, 35 and Ye Qu, 35, were brought before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday alongside co-accused Din Wang, 40, Jin Wang, 33, Jie Lu, 28, and Fei Duan, 37.
Successively, lawyers representing the six accused syndicate members told the court it was their client’s first time in custody, making them “vulnerable”.
Ms Lu, the court was told, is a new mum with a 21-month-old baby currently in the care of her mother.
She asked Magistrate Steven Raleigh for permission to have phone calls with her mother from lock up so she could check on the infant’s welfare.
During the hearing, Mr Raleigh shot a warning across to barrister John Saunder, representing the AFP, saying he’d “better get” police to prepare a concise summary of the offending because what he’d been supplied was a “novella”.
“That’s not a summary, that’s a novella,” he said.
Another co-accused, Zhou Chen, 37 from Balwyn, faced court on Wednesday night.
Charge sheets released by the court indicate each accused allegedly conspired to deal with $10m or more that was, or they believed it to be, the proceeds of crime.
Police will allege they are involved in an alleged Chinese crime syndicate, “secretly” operating the Changjiang Currency Exchange – a registered money remitter that has handled more than $10bn since 2020.
While most of the transactions were lawful, police will allege the Exchange facilitated a system for organised criminals to transfer more than $228m in unlawfully-obtained money in and out of Australia over the same period.
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