A Chatswood woman who washed $3.8 million for a Vietnamese money laundering syndicate has become the seventh and final person sentenced under Operation Avarus-Galetta.
The woman, 26, was sentenced on 28 March, 2025, by the Downing Centre District Court to 21 months' imprisonment, to be released after seven months on a Recognisance Release Order.
AFP-led Taskforce Avarus launched an investigation in 2022 following a report received from the Commonwealth Bank Financial Crimes Intelligence Unit.
The report led AFP investigators to the $3.9 million Vietnam-based money laundering syndicate, which used money mules in Sydney and Melbourne to pick up and deposit cash into bank accounts.
A money mule is a person used by a criminal syndicate to launder money and avoid law enforcement scrutiny and detection.
Inquiries by the AFP, with assistance from AUSTRAC and the National Australia Bank, led to the identification of further accounts being controlled by the syndicate.
The syndicate used ATMs and bank branches in suburbs in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra to evade law enforcement.
One Sydney-based mule regularly changed her clothes and wore wigs and sunglasses to disguise her identity from ATM cameras during deposits.
The AFP charged five money mules between October and November, 2022, with money laundering offences.
Following the arrest of the five, the Vietnam-based syndicate coordinator came to Sydney in November, 2022, to check what was happening.
The man, now 43, was arrested on arrival at Sydney Airport, and tried to bribe AFP officers twice with $20,000 cash in exchange for his release.
AFP officers linked the man to the Chatswood woman after analysing his electronic devices.
Police confirmed the woman had rented 10 bank accounts to the syndicate which allowed for $3,820,725 to be laundered.
She was charged with one count of recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime, money or property worth $1 million or more, on two or more occasions, contrary to section 400.3(2A) of the Criminal Code (Cth). She pleaded guilty to this offence on 3 September, 2024.
The remaining syndicate members received the following sentences:
- A Vietnamese national, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime, money or property worth $1 million or more, and one count of dishonestly offering to provide a benefit to a Commonwealth public official, contrary to subsections 400.3(2B) and 141.1(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth). He was sentenced on 6 June, 2024, to three years and three months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years.
- A Millers Point woman, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime, money or property worth $1 million or more, contrary to section 400.3(2B) of the Criminal Code (Cth). She was sentenced on 17 December, 2024, to 21 months' imprisonment, to be released on a Recognisance Release Order after serving eight months.
- A Cheltenham woman, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime, money or property worth $1 million or more, contrary to section 400.3(2B) of the Criminal Code (Cth). She was sentenced on 28 October, 2024, to 21 months' imprisonment, to be immediately released on a two-year Recognisance Release Order.
- A Cheltenham man, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of dealing with property reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime, money worth $100,000 or more, contrary to section 400.9(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth). He was sentenced on 19 June, 2024, to seven months' imprisonment, to be immediately released on a two-year Recognisance Release Order.
- A Haymarket woman, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of dealing with property reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime, money worth $100,000 or more, contrary to section 400.9(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth). She was sentenced on 6 November, 2023, to seven months' imprisonment, to be immediately released on a two-year Recognisance Release Order.
- A Carlton man, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of negligently dealing with proceeds of crime, money worth $1 million or more, contrary to section 400.3(3B) of the Criminal Code (Cth). He was sentenced on 23 May, 2023, to 18 months' imprisonment, to be immediately released on a two-year Recognisance Release Order.
AFP Detective Acting Inspector Morag McGowan said money laundering was an integral part of organised crime, it enabled criminals to legitimise their illicit profits and bankrolled future criminal ventures, such as drug trafficking and cybercrime.
"If you are moving funds to assist with money laundering, be warned the AFP is working closely with financial institutions and other law enforcement agencies to target you and your associates," Det a/Insp McGowan said.
"The AFP will not hesitate to prosecute those who prop up organised crime, irrespective of where they sit in a syndicate's hierarchy.
"We thank our investigators for their tireless work to ensure these criminals face their day in court."
Taskforce Avarus is an AFP-led multi-agency initiative combatting criminal networks laundering money in Australia. Members include AUSTRAC, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Australian Border Force and financial institutions.
