A Gold Coast man is among two people who have been charged over their alleged involvement in an elaborate money laundering syndicate, with the pair accused of laundering $4.5 million dollars in cash since February last year.
The 67-year-old was arrested following a raid on his Helensvale home yesterday, with a 53-year-old man also taken into custody in Graceville this morning.
Police allege the Helensvale man used personal information from clients to his consultancy business to open fraudulent bank accounts.
“The accounts were opened in the name of some of his clients believed to be without their knowledge,” Australian Federal Police said.
The Graceville man then allegedly supplied millions of dollars of funds, suspected to be proceeds of crime, to be deposited into the accounts “in an effort to avoid detection by authorities”.
Raids were also carried out at Bardon and Brisbane City yesterday as part of the investigation.
Officers seized $70,000 cash from two safes that were hidden under stairs and a cash counter at the Bardon property, while $160,000 cash was seized from a safe at the home of the Helensvale man.
Police also seized a number of mobile phones for further forensic examination.
The Helensvale man is due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court today charged with conspiring to deal in the proceeds of general crime and at the time of dealing the value of the money or property was $1,000,000 or more, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years jail.
He has also been charged with 29 counts of conducting transactions so as to avoid reporting requirements relating the threshold transactions
The Graceville man will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court today on the same charge.
AFP Acting Commander Investigations Northern Command Adrian Telfer said the AFP was committed to dismantling money laundering enterprises that enabled organised criminal activity.
“Money laundering is the backbone of organised crime. Money is the sole reason organised crime exists and taking away their ill-gotten wealth is a key priority for the AFP,” Acting Commander Telfer said.
“We will continue to target the structures that enable organised crime to hide their wealth and can’t rule out more arrests as our investigators follow the money.”
