12 DECEMBER 2023, 7:21AM
Media Release
AFP restrains $1 billion in criminal assets in major milestone
Editor’s note: Images from CACT seizures in the past 18 months available via Hightail
The AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) has restrained $1.1 billion in criminal assets in the past four years, delivering a significant blow to organised criminals living large from the proceeds of crime.
Almost half of the $1 billion-plus milestone has been restrained this calendar year alone.
The two-pronged strategy of investigating and prosecuting crime syndicates and restraining and confiscating assets purchased with tainted funds, continues to land a significant blow to organised crime in Australia.
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw set a five-year, $600 million, restraint target in 2019.
It comes as the AFP today releases updated restraint results under Operation Avarus-Nightwolf, a money laundering investigation that led to seven members of an alleged organised crime syndicate being charged in October this year.
In October, the value of assets first restrained by the CACT was more than $50 million (including 14 residential properties in Victoria, Queensland, and Western Australia; six motor vehicles; 51 bank accounts and shares).
As a result of further action by the CACT, the value of restrained assets in Operation Avarus-Nightwolf is now more than $160 million, including further residential properties in Victoria and Queensland as well as additional bank accounts and luxury items.
AFP Head of the CACT Stefan Jerga said a key strategy of the AFP and its partners to combat organised crime was to deprive criminals of their illegal wealth and to stop them using the proceeds of crime to bankroll further criminal ventures.
While triggers for restraints include wealth from money laundering and illicit drugs, restraint and confiscation of assets also relate to child exploitation, human trafficking, cybercrime, technology-enabled scams, fraud and national security.
Mr Jerga said when Commissioner Kershaw was appointed in late 2019, the Commissioner made asset confiscation a key operational priority for the AFP.
“Though we have exceeded Commissioner Kershaw’s original $600 million target, the CACT’s ambitions continue well beyond this. Our highly-skilled and co-located, Australia-wide teams of police, financial investigators, forensic accountants, litigators, cryptocurrency experts, and partner agency specialists, will continue to be relentless in pursuing the assets and wealth of those who attempt to operate outside of the law,’’ Mr Jerga said.
Since its permanent establishment in 2012, and having restrained almost $2 billion in criminal assets since this time, the CACT has targeted the alleged illicit wealth of some of the most notorious and significant criminals in Australia.
In June 2023, the CACT restrained more than $47 million worth of assets under Operation Fuji – a combined AFP and Victoria Police investigation into one of Victoria’s most significant organised crime syndicates. Items restrained, with a number now already forfeited, include houses, cars, fine art and a luxury yacht.
A luxury boat seized by the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT)
The Commonwealth’s proceeds of crime laws allow the CACT to restrain both proceeds and instruments of crime based on a civil standard of proof, as well as obtain financial penalty and unexplained wealth orders – regardless of whether there is a related criminal prosecution or investigation.
Commonwealth proceeds of crime laws also provide the CACT with strong information gathering and coercive examination powers, and an ability to restrain the assets of criminal groups without their prior knowledge.
Mr Jerga said the CACT’s operating model of co-located, Australia-wide, multi-disciplinary asset targeting teams is world-leading for asset confiscation.
“In addition to the CACT’s strong public and private partnerships in Australia, the CACT leverages the AFP’s international partners and network of deployed AFP members to also restrain and confiscate assets outside of Australia. The AFP has a presence in 34 countries.
“The success of the CACT should serve as yet another clear warning that the AFP will not allow criminals to cash in on crime. We will continue to target and disrupt their illicit operations, including by restraining and confiscating criminal assets.”
Led by the AFP, the CACT brings together the resources and expertise of the AFP, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), Australian Taxation Office (ATO), AUSTRAC and the Australian Border Force (ABF).
Cashed seized by the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT)
ACIC Acting Executive Director Intelligence Operations Dr Katie Willis said the ACIC’s mission of critical intelligence underpinned efforts to tackle serious and organised crime, which cost Australia up to $60 billion per year.
“By working closely with our CACT partners, we will continue to develop intelligence products that better inform the response to financially motivated criminal activity,” Dr Willis said.
AUSTRAC Deputy CEO Intelligence Dr John Moss said AUSTRAC was proud to work hand in hand with its partners to take the proceeds of crime out of criminals’ hands.
“AUSTRAC intelligence is a vital piece of the puzzle in identifying the assets purchased by criminals using the proceeds of crime,” Dr Moss said.
“The common thread with almost all criminal activity is the desire for financial gain, the work of the CACT hits criminals where it hurts and AUSTRAC is proud to be a part of this significant milestone in the fight against organised crime.”
The ABF remains an integral partner agency of the CACT by providing the skills and expertise towards complex investigations on Transnational Serious Organised Crime groups seeking to exploit international trade to mask their illicit cross-border activities.
ABF Commander Penny Spies said the CACT had changed the landscape for all law enforcement agencies in Australia, including the ABF in its role protecting our most critical strategic national asset – the Australian border.
“The ABF is tremendously proud to contribute to the significant achievements of the CACT, and has benefited greatly from its work,” Commander Spies said.
“The impact the CACT has had on criminal syndicates is evident by the success at this $1billion milestone, and the ABF will continue to partner with our law enforcement colleagues to remove the profits of crime from criminal groups.”
ATO Assistant Commissioner Ash Khera said financial crime affected all Australians, robbing them of funding for essential services such as health and education.
“Outcomes from the CACT are a significant blow to those who attempt to profit from serious and organised crime, made possible thanks to the coordinated and integrated approach of all agencies involved,” Assistant Commissioner Khera said.
While the CACT litigates matters in the courts, restrained assets are managed on behalf of the Commonwealth by the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA). At the conclusion of successful legal proceedings, confiscated assets are then liquidated by AFSA, with the proceeds placed in the Commonwealth Confiscated Assets Account (CAA).
Funds in the CAA are then redistributed by the Attorney-General into many and varied crime prevention and law enforcement related measures, including those dealing with child protection and online child safety, illicit drugs, community safety programs, and a national DNA program for unidentified and missing persons.
长江换汇案后续 – 联邦警察查抄价值上亿澳元的赃产
发表于 2023-12-12 16:32
澳大利亚联邦警察从该国最大的洗钱团伙中查获了价值 1.1 亿澳元的豪华房产、汽车、游船和现金，四年内从犯罪嫌疑人手中收缴的资产价值超过 11 亿澳元。
联邦警察总警监Reece Kershaw于周二在悉尼举行的新闻发布会上更新Avarus-Nightwolf行动的结果。洗钱调查导致一个涉嫌有组织犯罪集团的七名成员于十月份受到指控（注：此处说的是长江换汇案)。
这些嫌疑人包括一名前 ANZ（澳新银行） 员工，被指控洗钱近 2.29 亿澳元，这是换汇公司三年来转移的 100 亿澳元的一部分，“在全国各地光鲜亮丽的店面中进行操作”。
联邦警察领导的犯罪资产没收特别专案组扣押了涉嫌洗钱集团“长江”的超过 5000 万澳元资产，该集团经营长江换汇。
这些资产包括位于维州、昆州和西澳大利亚的 14 处住宅房产、六辆汽车以及 51 个银行账户和股票。
最新消息将揭示警方采取的进一步行动，这意味着没收的资产价值现已超过 1.6 亿澳元，其中包括维州和昆州的更多房产、更多银行账户和奢侈品。
警方称，嫌疑人在墨尔本的豪宅里过着奢侈的生活，驾驶私人飞机，购买豪华手表、葡萄酒和清酒。
据信，这些资产包括一辆价值 40 万澳元的梅赛德斯-迈巴赫 GLS、一块价值 9.4 万美元的劳力士钻石手表、爱马仕和路易威登设计的手袋以及价值超过 10 万美元的 Penfold’s Grange 葡萄酒。
2月份，联邦警察起诉了另一项价值 100亿澳元的洗钱行动“Avarus-Midas行动”的九名成员，并没收了价值超过1.5亿澳元的悉尼房产、现金和奢侈品。
悉尼第二机场附近一处占地 359 公顷的土地，因涉嫌洗钱活动而于 2 月份被联邦警察没收，现已投放市场并于近期出售。
6 月，专案组还在“Fuji行动”中查获了价值超过 4700 万澳元的资产，这是联邦警察和维州警察联合调查的一项中东有组织犯罪集团涉嫌在 Barwon 监狱内经营毒品的行为。
维多利亚警方指控了 30 人，并没收了一些资产，其中包括房屋、汽车、艺术品和豪华游艇。
联邦警察专案组负责人Stefan Jerga表示，关键策略是剥夺犯罪分子的非法财富，阻止他们利用犯罪所得资助进一步的犯罪活动。
Kershaw总警监在 2019 年底上任时将资产没收作为首要任务，并制定了五年 6 亿澳元的目标。该专案组的人数几乎增加了一倍，今年的工作量几乎达到了总目标的一半。
“我们由警察、金融调查员、法务会计师、诉讼律师、加密货币专家和合作伙伴机构专家组成的高技能且位于澳大利亚各地的团队将继续不懈地追查那些试图经营的人的资产和财富。Jerga在一份声明中说。
该工作组汇集了澳大利亚联邦警察、澳大利亚刑事情报委员会、澳大利亚税务局、AUSTRAC（澳洲反洗钱机构） 和澳大利亚边防局。
委员会情报行动代理总监Katie Willis博士表示，有组织犯罪每年给澳大利亚造成高达 600 亿澳元的损失。
虽然专案组在法庭上提起刑事诉讼，但被没收的资产由澳大利亚金融安全局代表联邦管理。
在成功的法律诉讼结束后，当局将对这些资产进行清算，并将所得存入联邦没收资产账户。
Billion-dollar AFP busts reveal what criminals do with their money
Dec 11, 2023 – 10.30pm
Luxury property, cars, boats and cash worth $110 million have been seized from the country’s biggest money-laundering ring by Australian Federal Police, bringing the value of assets taken from alleged criminals to more than $1.1 billion in four years.
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw will update the results of Operation Avarus-Nightwolf at a press conference in Sydney on Tuesday. The money laundering investigation led to seven members of an alleged organised crime syndicate being charged in October.
The suspects, who include a former ANZ employee, are accused of laundering close to $229 million as part of $10 billion moved over three years by the exchanges, “operating in plain sight from shiny shopfronts across the country”.
The AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce “restrained” more than $50 million in assets from the alleged money laundering syndicate known as Long River, which ran Changjiang Currency Exchange shops.
The assets included 14 residential properties in Victoria, Queensland, and Western Australia, six motor vehicles and 51 bank accounts and shares.
The update will reveal further police action means the value of assets confiscated has now topped $160 million, including more properties in Victoria and Queensland, additional bank accounts and luxury items.
Police claim the suspects were living the high life in mansions in Melbourne, flying private jets and buying luxury watches, wine and sake.
The assets are believed to include a Mercedes-Maybach GLS worth $400,000, a $94,000 diamond Rolex watch, handbags designed by Hermes and Louis Vuitton and bottles of Penfold’s Grange valued at more than $100,000.
The AFP charged nine members of another $10 billion money laundering operation in February called Operation Avarus-Midas and seized more than $150 million in Sydney property, cash and luxury items.
A 359-hectare site near Sydney’s second airport, which the AFP confiscated in February as part of the suspected money laundering operation, was put on the market and recently sold.
The taskforce also seized more than $47 million worth of assets in June under Operation Fuji, a joint AFP and Victoria Police investigation into a Middle Eastern organised crime syndicate allegedly running drugs from inside Barwon Prison.
Victoria Police charged 30 people and seized assets, with a number now forfeited, including houses, cars, fine art and a luxury yacht.
Stefan Jerga, the head of the AFP taskforce, said depriving criminals of their illegal wealth to stop them using the proceeds of crime to bankroll further criminal ventures was a key strategy.
Commissioner Kershaw made asset confiscation a key priority when he was appointed in late 2019 and set a five-year, $600-million restraint target. The taskforce has nearly doubled that already, and almost half of the total was accounted for this calendar year.
“Our highly-skilled and co-located, Australia-wide teams of police, financial investigators, forensic accountants, litigators, cryptocurrency experts, and partner agency specialists, will continue to be relentless in pursuing the assets and wealth of those who attempt to operate outside of the law,” Mr Jerga said in a statement.
The taskforce brings together the AFP, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Australian Taxation Office, AUSTRAC and the Australian Border Force.
Commission acting executive director of intelligence operations Dr Katie Willis said organised crime was costing Australia up to $60 billion per year.
While the taskforce litigates matters in the courts, confiscated assets are managed on behalf of the Commonwealth by the Australian Financial Security Authority.
At the conclusion of successful legal proceedings, they are then liquidated by the authority, with the proceeds placed in the Commonwealth Confiscated Assets Account.
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