More than $11 million worth of assets, including Rolex watches, Cartier jewellery and art by Brett Whiteley has been forfeited to the Commonwealth as suspected proceeds of crime after an AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) investigation.
The decision in the Supreme Court of Victoria grew out of AFP-led Operation Fuji, which focused on a large Middle Eastern organised crime syndicate's access to firearms, large-scale drug importation activity, and extensive wealth, as well as threats to life.
The investigation uncovered significant plots involving drug importations, including how they were planned and coordinated by syndicate leaders while in the prison system.
It also included a Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) investigation into the origin and provenance of numerous luxury items owned by syndicate members, which were suspected of being proceeds of crime.
These included a luxury yacht, properties and original paintings by prominent Australian artists, also including Ben Quilty, Fred Williams and Adam Cullen.
The CACT successfully applied to the court to have the assets restrained and forfeited, submitting it was reasonable to suspect they were the proceeds of crime, given they were not commensurate with identifiable legitimate earnings.
Forfeited items include:
- A luxury yacht estimated to be worth $800,000.
- Funds derived from an investment into a trust unit scheme estimated to be $450,000.
- Five original paintings by prominent Australian artists estimated to be worth $500,000.
- Fine jewellery, including Rolex watches and Cartier bracelets, estimated to be worth more than $75,000.
- 11 properties in Melbourne suburbs including Mickleham, Malvern East, Essendon and Moonee Ponds, collectively estimated to be worth more than $8.7 million.
These assets, and revenue from their sale, will be added to a special purpose fund that supports crime prevention and law enforcement-related measures.
AFP Detective Superintendent Scott Raven said stripping criminals of their ill-gotten wealth was a key operational priority for the agency and its partners.
"The CACT's investigators, forensic accountants and litigation lawyers will ensure people justify how they accumulate their wealth and target any assets that are not linked to lawful sources," Detective Superintendent Raven said.
"This prevents the bankrolling of further criminal activity and makes crime less financially lucrative.
"Outcomes such as this one in Victoria are key to disrupting and deterring serious organised crime across the country."
He said the result highlighted the importance of not only holding criminals to account, but also working to remove every shred of benefit they derive from their offending.
"Money remains the lifeblood of organised crime and cutting off the flow of ill-gotten finances helps prevent further harm to the community by cutting off revenue and motivation," he said.
"It is rewarding that funds forfeited through the CACT's work are redirected to the programs that benefit the community."
The AFP-led CACT brings together the resources and expertise of the AFP, Australian Border Force, Australian Taxation Office, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and AUSTRAC. Together these agencies trace, restrain and pursue the confiscation of criminal assets.
Once forfeited to the Commonwealth, those confiscated assets are sold by the Official Trustee (the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy). The funds derived from the sale of confiscated assets are placed into the Confiscated Assets
Account (the special purpose fund), managed by the Official Trustee on behalf of the Commonwealth.
These funds can be distributed by the Attorney-General to benefit the community through crime prevention measures, diversion programs or other law enforcement measures across Australia.
The Commonwealth's proceeds of crime laws provide extensive tools for the restraint of both proceeds and instruments of crime, as well as financial penalty and unexplained wealth orders, based on a civil standard of proof.
These laws operate separately to any criminal prosecution and can also operate when there is no related criminal investigation or prosecution.
Since July 2019, CACT has restrained more than $1.2 billion in criminal assets, including houses, cars, fine art and luxury yachts.
