Australian police arrested Seven in Complex Money Laundering Case Linked to Chinese Syndicate

In a major development, Australian police have arrested and charged seven individuals for their alleged involvement in laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for a Chinese crime syndicate.

Police undertook the investigation for 14 months in which several Australian agencies as well as the US Department of Homeland Security worked together. The police said that this was the most complex money laundering investigation in the history of the nation.

The focus of the investigation was the Changjiang Currency Exchange, a money remittance chain with around a dozen outlets in Australia. Shockingly, it was revealed that this exchange was being covertly operated by the Long River money laundering syndicate.

The Changjiang Currency Exchange purportedly carried out legitimate money transfers for ordinary customers amounting to billions of dollars. However, authorities uncovered illicit transactions totaling 229 million Australian dollars ($144 million) linked to criminal activities over the past three years. Authorities' suspicions were piqued during the COVID-19 lockdowns in Sydney when they observed the expansion of Changjiang Currency Exchange operations, even as most of the city remained deserted.

The four Chinese nationals and three Australian citizens appeared in a Melbourne court, where they faced allegations of leading extravagant lifestyles, including dining at lavish restaurants, consuming expensive wine and sake, traveling via private jets, driving luxury vehicles, and residing in multi-million-dollar homes.

The syndicate is accused of aiding its criminal clientele in producing counterfeit business documentation, including false invoices and bank statements. Some of the laundered funds were traced back to cyber scams, illicit goods trafficking, and violent crimes. Furthermore, the syndicate allegedly invested in fake passports, each costing approximately 200,000 Australian dollars ($126,000), to secure escape routes if required.

Assistant Commissioner Dametto emphasized the uniqueness and complexity of this case, given that the syndicate conducted its operations openly through prominent shopfronts across the country, in stark contrast to other clandestine money laundering organizations.

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