A 54-year-old man from Sydney’s inner west will today become the 14th person to face charges relating to a $20 million fraud and money laundering operation.
The Earlwood man is set to appear before Downing Centre Local Court today, charged with recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime to the value of $100,000 or more. The maximum penalty for the offence is 10 years imprisonment.
“It will be alleged in court the man received and possessed a total of $456,150 that was proceeds of an illegal scheme to siphon off money that should have been remitted to the ATO, and that he was reckless as to the fact that the money was the proceeds of crime,” a Serious Financial Crime Taskforce statement issued jointly by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said.
He allegedly used two personal bank accounts to receive money from five other corporate entities set up to facilitate the fraud scheme.
“It will also be alleged the man was the sole director and secretary of a corporate entity that received payments from another entity established by the syndicate to launder money illegally diverted as part of the scheme.”
AFP Detective Superintendent Matthew Ciantar said the growing list of people charged under Operation Bordelon highlighted the tenacity of AFP investigators to uncover the entire scope of criminal offending committed by this syndicate.
“The AFP understands that the sole purpose of organised crime is to make money, and our best chance to inflict lasting damage on those seeking to accumulate significant wealth at the expense of the Australian community is to target their efforts to legitimise their proceeds of crime,” he said.
“We issued a warning in August 2021 that anyone involved in this scheme should be worried as we would lay further charges if the evidence allowed. These new charges highlight our commitment to ensuring serious criminal activity is brought to account, and serves as another warning to others in the professional services industry seeking to facilitate the activities of organised crime.”
ATO Deputy Commissioner and SFCT Chief Will Day said one of the common features of serious financial crime is businesses that may appear legitimate on the surface, but when you peel back the layers you discover webs of criminal activity.
“Financial crimes cause real harm to people’s livelihoods and line the pockets of criminals. The SFCT takes these matters extremely seriously, and this latest charge shows that we take firm action against those who think they won’t be caught,” he said.
