Accused dirty money launderer Zhuo Chen bailed despite police concerns

A Balwyn man accused of being the “principal controller” of a group which allegedly laundered $229m of dirty money has been released despite police wanting him to remain in custody.

Police execute a search warrant at Changjiang Currency Exchange in Sydney CBD conducted as part of Operation Avarus-Nightwolf.

An alleged ringleader of a criminal syndicate accused of laundering $229m of dirty money has been granted bail despite police concerns he contacted charter jet companies and ordered the destruction of evidence.

Zhuo Chen, 37, from Balwyn, is one of seven people accused of running the Changjiang Currency Exchange which operated Australia-wide and allegedly laundered hundreds of millions in criminal funds in the past three years.

Mr Chen was granted bail at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday despite opposition from police who alleged he phoned two charter jet companies, ordered the destruction or fabrication of evidence and had a “propensity” to interfere with witnesses.

The court heard Mr Chen was a significant player in the operation of the Changjiang Currency Exchange — which had 12 shopfronts across Australia — by allegedly teaching criminals how to set up fake companies, produce false documents and use family members to hide their money trail.

The exchange was allegedly run by a criminal syndicate known as Long River, with police alleging Mr Chen was a “principal controller” who directed staff and took a 30 per cent cut.

He allegedly took on an organised crime contract to launder $200m made through a “romance scam” of which 10 per cent was kept by the syndicate.

“We f —king accepted about 100 million right?” he allegedly told a co-accused.

The court heard the exchange handled more than $10bn in transactions of which nearly $229m is alleged to have been from the proceeds of crime.

Australian Federal Police Detective Senior Constable Thomas Martin told the court Mr Chen held significant funds in offshore bank accounts and police were concerned overseas organised crime would assist him if he were granted bail.

He said phone taps picked up Mr Chen telling his co-accused to prepare documentation and to get their “story straight” if police approached them.

In opposing bail, Senior Constable Martin said police were concerned Mr Chen would interfere with witnesses or fail to appear at court.

Jie Lu was one of seven people charged with helping launder hundreds of millions of dollars for a Chinese crime syndicate. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

But magistrate Malcolm Thomas said the case was complex, with thousands of hours of phone taps needing translation and transcribing which meant delays were inevitable and could result in Mr Chen being held on remand for years.

He granted bail with strict conditions including that Mr Chen not leave his home, he

provide a $1.3m surety offered by his parents, not access the internet other than through a single IP address known to the AFP and he wear an electronic monitoring device.

Mr Thomas said if Mr Chen did not breach his bail, he could apply to have some of the stricter conditions loosened.

Mr Chen’s lawyer Dermot Dann said his client would plead not guilty, adding a “monster trial” awaited.

Earlier, Mr Chen’s wife Jie Lu, 28 — also facing charges — along with other co-accused Jin Wang and Jing Zhu were granted bail after their applications were not opposed by police.

The court heard Mr Chen lived with his wife and 21-month old child in a Balwyn home valued at $10m.

The group were supported in court by dozens of family and friends, including Mr Chen’s

parents.

Seven alleged syndicate members were arrested last week by Australian Federal Police as part of Operation Avarus-Nightwolf.

Three alleged members did not apply for bail, with the group to return to court next year.