Australian Federal Police raid homes in Templestowe Lower and unit in Northcote as part of CFMEU probe
Two major Australian Federal Police raids have been executed — in Templestowe Lower and Northcote — as part of an investigation into the scandal-plagued CFMEU.
Victoria
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Two major raids have been executed across Melbourne as part of an investigation into the scandal-plagued CFMEU.
Australian Federal Police were on Thursday executing search warrants at a home in Templestowe Lower and an office suite in Northcote.
Officers stormed both locations before 9am and remained at both sites at 3pm on Thursday.
A double-storey home in Templestowe Lower suspected to have links to an investigation into the CFMEU was being raided by AFP officers well into Thursday afternoon.
A man who was questioned by police for almost eight hours sped away from the home in a Ford Ranger after officers left.
The middle-aged man refused to speak when approached by the Herald Sun, raising a folder in his left hand to cover his face.
When asked why police had questioned him the man was silent before revving his engine and driving away.
A few minutes earlier a woman who answered the door at the property also refused to answer questions.
Speaking from behind a dark security door that obscured her face, the middle-aged woman with long blonde hair would not be drawn on why Australian Federal Police had been at the house between 9am and 3.30pm on Thursday.
“I think you should go away, we’re not interested in talking to you,” she said.
“We saw you taking photos across from the reserve.”
The woman was interrupted by a man inside the house who said: “Love, just stop it.”
At least a dozen AFP officers attended the home, including forensic police.
They took several items from the home but would not answer questions about why they attended.
The couple who was at the home have rented the property for the past two years.
Unmarked AFP vehicles and heavily armed police were at a Lower Templestowe home for several hours and there appeared to be a mix of detectives and special operations officers.
Police searched a Ford Raptor parked outside the property, opening its bonnet and checking under the car and inside its wheel arches, while police outside the property were wearing face coverings and bulletproof vests.
The cream-coloured brick veneer is on Lynnwood Parade.
The neat home has a sign advertising the Inuovi Body Studio, a “weight loss and skin therapy” clinic.
The five-bedroom home last sold for $1.7m in 2017.
Federal police were also guarding a group of warehouses on Arthurton Rd in Northcote after one of the businesses was raided about 8.30am.
Several unmarked vehicles remained at the premises while officers came and went from one of the units.
The raid at the Northcote office suite lasted more than seven hours.
“The search warrants are part of the AFP’s response to allegations of corruption in the Victorian building industry,” an AFP spokesman said.
“There is no threat to public safety. Further comment will be made at an appropriate time.”
The Herald Sun has been told they are looking for evidence related to large financial transactions.
It is expected computer files and other records will be examined as part of the probe.
A major investigation into the allegedly dodgy construction union saw the state government release a final report into corruption within the building and construction centre.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan ordered the review following reported allegations that underworld and bikie figures had infiltrated the union and major Big Build projects.
She said the eight recommendations made in the report would aim to weed out the “rotten culture” within the sector.
Defiant former CFMEU chief John Setka was then handed $450,000 to leave his role within the union.
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