Current:Home > FinanceAustralian police charge 7 with laundering hundreds of millions for Chinese crime syndicate -Ascend Finance Compass
Australian police charge 7 with laundering hundreds of millions for Chinese crime syndicate
View
Date:2025-04-15 18:57:10
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian authorities have charged seven people with helping launder hundreds of millions of dollars for a Chinese crime syndicate.
Police said Thursday the arrests came after a 14-month investigation that involved multiple Australian agencies and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. They said it was the most complex money laundering investigation in the nation’s history.
Police said a money remittance chain in Australia with a dozen outlets, the Changjiang Currency Exchange, was being secretly run by the Long River money laundering syndicate.
They said the chain legitimately transferred billions of dollars from regular customers, but hidden among those transactions were illegal transfers of 229 million Australian dollars ($144 million) in crime proceeds over the past three years.
They said they became suspicious about the company during COVID-19 lockdowns in Sydney.
“While most of Sydney was a ghost town, alarm bells went off among our money laundering investigators when they noticed Changjiang Currency Exchange opened and updated new and existing shopfronts in the heart of Sydney,” said Stephen Dametto, an assistant commissioner with the Australian Federal Police.
“It was just a gut feeling – it didn’t feel right,” Dametto said in a statement. “Many international students and tourists had returned home, and there was no apparent business case for Changjiang Currency Exchange to expand.”
More than 300 officers on Wednesday conducted 20 raids around the country and seized tens of millions of dollars worth of luxury homes and vehicles.
The four Chinese nationals and three Australian citizens made their first appearance in a Melbourne court on Thursday.
“We allege they lived the high life by eating at Australia’s most extravagant restaurants, drinking wine and sake valued in the tens of thousands of dollars, traveling on private jets, driving vehicles purchased for A$400,000 and living in expensive homes, with one valued at more than A$10 million,” Dametto said.
Police said the syndicate coached its criminal customers on how to create fake business paperwork, such as false invoices and bank statements. They said some of the laundered money came from cyber scams, the trafficking of illicit goods, and violent crimes.
Dametto said the syndicate had even purchased fake passports for A$200,000 ($126,000) each in case their members needed to flee the country.
“The reason why this investigation was so unique and complex was that this alleged syndicate was operating in plain sight with shiny shopfronts across the country – it was not operating in the shadows like other money laundering organizations,” Dametto said in his statement.
veryGood! (78)
Related
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Golf Olympics schedule: When Nelly Korda, Scottie Scheffler tee off at Paris Games
- Paychecks grew more slowly this spring, a sign inflation may keep cooling
- How Rugby Star Ilona Maher Became a Body Positivity Queen at the Olympics
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- 2 youth detention center escapees are captured in Maine, Massachusetts
- Boar's Head recall expands to 7 million pounds of deli meat
- Three Facilities Contribute Half of Houston’s Chemical Air Pollution
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- NYC Mayor Eric Adams defends top advisor accused of sexual harassment
Ranking
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- NYC’s latest crackdown on illegal weed shops is finally shutting them down
- Texas radio host’s friend sentenced to life for her role in bilking listeners of millions
- El Chapo’s son pleads not guilty to narcotics, money laundering and firearms charges
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Simone Biles' redemption and Paris Olympic gold medal was for herself, U.S. teammates
- An all-electric police fleet? California city replaces all gas-powered police cars.
- US-Mexico border arrests are expected to drop 30% in July to a new low for Biden’s presidency
Recommendation
Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
San Francisco police and street cleaners take aggressive approach to clearing homeless encampments
Cierra Burdick brings Lady Vols back to Olympic Games, but this time in 3x3 basketball
North Carolina governor says Harris ‘has a lot of great options’ for running mate
Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
Eight international track and field stars to know at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Texas radio host’s friend sentenced to life for her role in bilking listeners of millions
Australian police officer recalls 2022 ambush by extremists in rural area that left 2 officers dead