Seven people have been arrested in connection to an alleged many laundering ring whose members police claim lived a high life in Melbourne and Sydney mansions.
More than 240 Australian Federal Police members and dozens of officials from other agencies including the financial crimes authority AUSTRAC led raids on Wednesday that smashed the ring and arrested seven people.syndicate are accused of laundering close to $229 million from the proceeds of crime through the Changjiang Currency Exchange – part of $10 billion-plus transferred by the exchange in the past three years, including by customers engaged in lawful transfers.
The assets restrained are believed to include a Mercedes-Maybach GLS worth $400,000, a $94,000 Rolex watch and bottles of Penfold’s Grange valued at more than $100,000. “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 organisations,” Assistant Commissioner Dametto said.He said the investigation was sparked by AFP members who came to work during COVID-19, when most of Sydney was a ghost town. When Changjiang Currency Exchange began operating two new shopfronts in the heart of Sydney, alarm bells sounded.
Assistant Commissioner Dametto said AFP would allege the syndicate purchased false passports for $200,000 each, which could have enabled members to flee the country in the event law enforcement agencies became suspicious about their activities.The 37-year-old Melbourne man arrested on charges in relation to the global investment scam is the seventh person charged under Operation Wickham, a joint operation between the AFP and US Secret Service.
AFP Commander Investigations Kate Ferry said that the accused syndicate behind the scam allegedly tricked victims into thinking they were getting high returns on investments.“The majority of the money deposited into Australian bank accounts or remitted by Changjiang Currency Exchange was linked to the exploitation of an investment application called MetaTrader, and other platforms dealing in foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies,” she said.