‘Shiny shopfronts’ led police to bust $10b Chinese crime ring
The opening of a Chinese currency remitter in Sydney’s CBD in the middle of the pandemic sparked a police investigation which has allegedly exposed Australia’s biggest money-laundering ring, with ties to cyber crime, drug running, cryptocurrency and violent crime.
More than 240 Australian Federal Police and dozens of officials from agencies including the financial crimes authority AUSTRAC led raids on Wednesday that smashed the alleged ring and arrested seven people in eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
AFP arrest one man in Melbourne’s Glen Iris. Australian Federal Police
Members of the alleged Chinese organised crime 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.
Former Howard government minister and Sky News contributor Gary Hardgrave – who lists himself as a director of the exchange on LinkedIn – spruiked the Sydney shopfront last year as a “great Australian company growing business”.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mr Hardgrave. When asked by The Australian Financial Review if he remained a director, Mr Hardgrave said: “I was engaged to help spruik the business. I’m not involved in the day to day operations of the company.”
Four Chinese nationals and three Australian citizens including four men and three women, aged between 33 and 40 — were arrested for their alleged involvement in the money laundering syndicate dubbed Long River. The AFP said it was the country’s most significant and complex money laundering ring.
Police execute a search warrant at a shopfront in Sydney’s CBD. Australian Federal Police
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