Pharmacist and alleged fraudster Ben Huynh fails in legal bid to get $8m car collection returned
Two Ferraris, two Lamborghinis, three BMWs and a McLaren confiscated from pharmacist Ben Huynh’s Dural mansion in 2023 will remain in the hands of federal police, a court has ruled.
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Sydney pharmacy boss and accused $10m fraudster Ben Huynh has lost a legal bid to have federal police return his multimillion-dollar collection of supercars.
The eight vehicles — two Ferraris, two Lamborghinis, three BMWs and a McLaren understood to have been a gift to his son upon his university graduation — were seized during a police raid on Huynh’s property in November 2023, amid allegations he had engaged in widespread fraud relating to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
The veteran pharmacist, who operated the Cabramatta East Day and Night Pharmacy for 26 years, was arrested by police and charged with the criminal offences of obtaining a financial advantage by deception, and dealing with more than $1m alleged to be the proceeds of crime.
He is yet to enter pleas.
Huynh was released on bail after his arrest on the condition he not go within 200m of the pharmacy, not leave NSW and surrender his passport.
He subsequently launched a legal bid in the Federal Court of Australia to have the cars, believed to be worth in the vicinity of $8m, taken out of the hands of police and returned to him.
However, Justice Robert Bromwich threw the case out on Friday, ruling the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the application.
It comes as The Saturday Telegraph can exclusively reveal federal police have launched separate legal action in the NSW Supreme Court seeking a freezing order on Huynh’s many assets, including his Dural mansion, the Cabramatta pharmacy, and multiple bank accounts.
Authorities have previously revealed they began investigating Huynh in early 2023 over allegations he made scores of false claims under the PBS between 2014 and 2023.
The alleged value of offending is estimated at more than $10 million, police say.
News of the raid on Huynh’s home, and the sight of officers vaulting the fences of the trophy home in November 2023, set tongues wagging among his well-heeled neighbours, while images of the luxury vehicles being carted away on the back of tow trucks quickly spread among Australia’s supercar community, of which Huynh is a high-profile member.
His wife, Le Thach, founded the exclusive Supercars Club Australia, which famously only grants membership to those with ultra-luxury cars.
The couple regularly featured in images uploaded to the group’s social media pages, which have subsequently been removed.
Ms Thach’s social media accounts document her love of luxury cars and include pictures of her at the Formula 1 in Melbourne in 2023.
It is understood one of the cars the subject of the Federal Court action is a $400,000 McLaren Huynh gifted to his son Vu Huynh in April 2023 after he graduated from university.
Ms Thach revealed on social media at the time that she and her husband had given the luxury vehicle, complete with the number plate Cheeta, to their son on his 26th birthday, days after he graduated from Sydney university as a pharmacist.
Neither Mr Huynh’s wife, Ms Thach, nor his son Vu is accused of any wrongdoing.
The AFP, through its Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT), is seeking to have the Supreme Court restrain more than $20m in assets belonging to Huynh, which police allege were paid for with the proceeds of crime.
They include Huynh’s Dural mansion, his East Cabramatta pharmacy, bank accounts and 12 vehicles including the Ferraris, the Lamborghinis, the McLaren and seven BMWs.
AFP CACT commander Jason Kennedy said by seizing the assets of alleged offenders driven by greed, police struck at the heart of their motivation – personal profit.
“This approach ensures those who seek to exploit government benefit schemes for financial gain face not only legal consequences, but also the loss of the wealth they sought to accumulate through dishonest means,” Commander Kennedy said.
“When law enforcement recovers illicit gains, it removes the incentive that fuels such crimes and sends a strong deterrent message to others.
“Alleged offenders consider the confiscation of their assets to be as much, or more, of a punishment than a prison sentence, and removing the lure of financial exploitation from the equation shows that crime does not pay.”
Huynh’s criminal case will return to court on June 6.
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