Waterfront mansions, $15m in assets: Russian nationals’ alleged money laundering empire
Multimillion-dollar waterfront mansions on the Gold Coast, cash and crypto are among $15.6 million dollars of assets restrained by the AFP after an alleged money laundering empire was busted.
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Multimillion-dollar waterfront mansions on the Glitter Strip, cash and cryptocurrency are among $15.6 million dollars of assets restrained by the AFP after an alleged money laundering empire was busted on the Gold Coast.
The AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) applied to restrain the assets, worth an estimated combined value of $15.6 million, under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth) in the District Court of Queensland on July 26.
The assets included seven Queensland properties worth an estimated $12.96 million, cryptocurrency worth an estimated $514,000, $1.95 million in cash, and approximately $118,000 held in bank accounts.
The investigation commenced as a result of intelligence provided by finance watchdog Austrac regarding two Russian nationals who are now the subjects of restraint action in the District Court.
Dmitry Rimskiy, 49, and Alexandra Bugrova, 46, – were charged earlier this year with dealing in the proceeds of crime following an investigation by the Gold Coast Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (GC JOCTF).
The couple, who have four children and are currently on bail, snapped up million dollar properties within a year of arriving in Australia in 2015.
It is alleged they laundered funds into the country by visiting various financial institution branches and automatic teller machines in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, conducting hundreds of cash deposits in transactions less than $10,000 in 2022.
It is also alleged those funds were used to purchase or rapidly repay mortgages for multiple Queensland properties, including; waterfront properties in Hope Island, Broadbeach Waters and Runaway Bay, houses in Labrador, Alexandra Hills and Mount Gravatt, and a high-rise unit in Milton.
The couple’s first purchase was a waterfront five-bedroom mansion on Hope Island which they picked up for $1.61 million in 2016, according to property data.
Rimskiy also laid out $586,935 for a high-rise unit in Milton that same year.
The couple’s Hope Island mansion was listed for rent at $2000 a week earlier this year.
In 2021, Bugrova purchased two properties at Alexandra Hills and Upper Mount Gravatt for about $1.5 million.
Meanwhile in 2022 Rimskiy splashed more than $6 million on Gold Coast property including two waterfront homes at Broadbeach Waters and Runaway Bay.
The Broadbeach Waters property, with two jetties and 46m of river frontage, was listed for rent at $1350 a week in 2023.
The AFP found almost $2 million cash and $425,000 of cryptocurrency at the couple’s Hope Island mansion when they were raided in December last year.
Rimskiy and Bugrova remain before the courts but were earlier this year ordered to surrender their passports and not approach any international points of departure.
It is not suggested that the homes, which the couple bought between 2016 and 2022, were purchased illegally.
Acting Commander Amelia McDonald said the CACT worked with criminal investigators to identify and restrain potential proceeds of crime to deliver the maximum impact possible on the criminal environment.
“People engaged in money laundering are motivated by greed and an intent to make illicit profits,” she said.
“The AFP’s ability to target the means by which criminals launder their money and seize these profits sends a message to criminals – all your wealth is an illusion which will disappear when we knock on your door.”
The AFP-led CACT brings together the resources and expertise of the AFP, Australian Border Force (ABF), Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and Austrac.
“Together these agencies trace, restrain and ultimately confiscate criminal assets,” Acting Commander McDonald.
Once forfeited to the Commonwealth, those confiscated assets are sold by the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy (Official Trustee).
The funds derived from the sale of confiscated assets are placed into the Confiscated Assets Account (the special purpose fund), managed by the Official Trustee on behalf of the Commonwealth.
These funds can be distributed by the Attorney-General to benefit the community through crime prevention measures, diversion programs or other law enforcement measures across Australia.
Since July 2019, CACT has restrained more than $1.1 billion in criminal assets including houses, cars, fine art and luxury yachts.
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