Seven Victorians charged for being alleged “money mules” in an international investment con

Seven Victorians have been charged for their roles in allegedly shifting $14 million off shore in an international investment scam.

Seven Victorians have been charged with being alleged “money mules” for a $14 million international investment scam.

Police say the swindlers hired the accused to open fraudulent businesses and bank accounts at local financial institutions to make the rip-off look above boards.

The foreign arm of the scam, pretending to be bank officials and stockbrokers, then used those accounts to con victims, who plunged their life savings into fixed-term deposits and shares, via brokerage.

Police allege seven Victorians shifted more than $14 million off shore in an international investment scam. Picture: Stock image

It is alleged the seven Victorians shifted more than $14 million off shore between August, 2022, and February of this year.

They are accused of receiving commissions in return.

Police say they have identified 30 victims across Australia, one of them an 86-year-old Melbourne woman who lost $400,000 in July, 2023.

A 56-year-old woman from the Australian Capital Territory is alleged to have unknowingly transferred $1.6 million to a fraudulent account in February this year.

Detectives from the Banyule-Nillumbik crime investigation unit have charged seven people as part of a year-long investigation.

They are:

•A 45-year-old Watsonia woman

•A 45-year-old Watsonia man

•A 51-year-old Preston man

•A 50-year-old Point Cook man

•A 45-year-old Hawthorn man

•A 44-year-old Reservoir man

•A 46-year-old Heidelberg Heights man

The Victorians have been charged over their alleged roles in an international investment scam. Picture: Stock image

They have been charged with knowingly dealing in the proceeds of crime, negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime and dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.

The Watsonia pair were remanded and the rest bailed or charged on summons.

They will appear before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on September 26.

The investigation into the Victorian offending remains ongoing, police said.

Insp. Timothy Cron said what had happened was “beyond devastating” for the innocent victims.

“To anyone thinking of making a quick dollar by taking part in these scams – know that what you’re doing is a crime and you will be held to account,” he said.