The AFP has restrained waterfront properties, a high-rise unit, cash, cryptocurrency, and funds held in bank accounts following a money laundering investigation on the Gold Coast.
The AFP-led Criminal Asset Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) applied to restrain the assets, worth an estimated combined value of $15.6 million, under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth) in the District Court of Queensland on 26 July, 2024.
The assets include seven Queensland properties worth an estimated $12.96 million, cryptocurrency worth an estimated $514,000, $1.95 million in cash, and approximately $118,000 held in bank accounts.
The investigation commenced as a result of intelligence provided by AUSTRAC relating to two Russian nationals, a man, 49, and a woman, 46, who are now the subjects of the restraint action in the District Court.
The man and woman moved to Australia in 2015 and are alleged to have laundered funds into Australia using several methods.
It will be alleged funds were used to purchase or rapidly repay mortgages for multiple Queensland properties, including; waterfront properties in Hope Island, Broadbeach Waters and Runaway Bay, houses in Labrador, Alexandra Hills and Mount Gravatt, and a high-rise unit in a Milton complex.
The man and woman were charged earlier this year with dealing in the proceeds of crime after an investigation by the Gold Coast Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (GC JOCTF). They remain before the courts.
Acting Commander Amelia McDonald said the CACT worked with criminal investigators to identify and restrain potential proceeds of crime to deliver the maximum impact possible on the criminal environment.
"People engaged in money laundering are motivated by greed and an intent to make illicit profits. We work tirelessly with our partners to disrupt their criminal activities and remove their ill-gotten wealth," she said.
"The AFP's ability to target the means by which criminals launder their money and seize these profits sends a message to criminals - all your wealth is an illusion which will disappear when we knock on your door."
The AFP-led CACT brings together the resources and expertise of the AFP, Australian Border Force (ABF), Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and AUSTRAC. Together these agencies trace, restrain and ultimately confiscate criminal assets.
Once forfeited to the Commonwealth, those confiscated assets are sold by the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy (Official Trustee). 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 $1.1 billion in criminal assets including houses, cars, fine art and luxury yachts.
The GC JOCTF is a multi-agency taskforce comprised of members of the AFP, Queensland Police Service, ACIC, Department of Home Affairs, ABF, AUSTRAC and the ATO.
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