Chinese national accused of helping launder $100m in alleged WhatsApp scam
A man accused of helping an organised crime gang set up fake bank accounts to launder $100 million via a WhatsApp scam has been arrested as part of a special US-Australian operation.
National
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A Chinese national accused of helping an organised crime gang allegedly launder $100m of cash allegedly fleeced from victims via a WhatsApp scam has been arrested.
The Australian Federal Police will allege the 37-year-old – who was arrested in Melbourne on Wednesday – was in direct contact with the scammers.
The AFP alleged the man helped them set up fake bank accounts and business paperwork to move their money.
The allegations were uncovered in Operation Wickham, a partnership between the AFP and the United States Secret Service.
Victims were allegedly duped after they were sent investment opportunities via WhatsApp delivered to their mobile phones.
They believed they were making high returns by investing in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange trading on a legitimate platform called MetaTrader.
“A key feature of the scam was the alleged syndicate’s ability to produce dedicated software, compatible with the legitimate trading platform to misrepresent the true market value of currency rates,” the AFP’S Head of Investigations Commander Kate Ferry said.
“The AFP alleges victims were led to believe the vast majority of trades were successful in yielding significant financial returns, when in reality, the data was manipulated to show positive returns,” Cmdr Ferry said.
“The criminal syndicate did not stop there, they continued to encourage more deposits from victims.”
The money was allegedly sent from the United States to Australia to allegedly be laundered by the Long River syndicate.
That organisation was dismantled in raids across the country on Wednesday as part of the AFP’s Operation Avarus-Nightwolf.
Moving the money via Australia was allegedly designed to confuse United States authorities, while also taking advantage of our safe and regulated financial system.
The 37-year-old was the seventh person arrested over the scam, which allegedly netted more than $160 million, mainly from Americans but some Australians were also ripped off.
The scam also ensnared Chinese students living in Australia.
The syndicate allegedly used the students’ names on paperwork to register companies in Australia and to get trading licences with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
They also allegedly set up bank accounts in the students’ names to move funds for the fake businesses set up falsely in their names.
The paper trail allegedly allowed the money laundering syndicate to claim that the scammed funds being moved through the Changjiang Currency Exchange were legitimate.
The 37-year-old was expected to be charged with recklessly engaging in conduct related to the proceeds of crime, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
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