Gangsters’ wives and girlfriends stripped of luxury criminal assets
From Louis Vuitton handbags to multimillion-dollar homes — federal police will stop at nothing to seize every last ill-gotten asset owned by organised criminals and their partners. Here’s a look inside the loot.
Police & Courts
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Wives and girlfriends of organised criminals are being secretly stripped of their luxury homes and possessions as police unleash “maximum damage” on profit-driven crooks.
Australian Federal Police has dramatically ramped up efforts to seize ill-gotten assets owned by organised criminals and syndicates.
Designer handbags, shoes, jewellery and other status symbols gifted by gangsters to their partners are among the high-end items being confiscated.
AFP Criminal Assets Confiscation national manager Stefan Jerga warned no criminal is safe and even assets hidden offshore will be seized.
“We come after all their assets. Whether it be the roof over their heads, their modes of transport and recreational toys, moneys in their possession or bank accounts, or the watches, bags and shoes they parade, we target it all,” Mr Jerga said.
“Targeting the criminal economy by confiscating criminal assets, and removing the profit from crime, is one of a number of strategies deployed by the AFP and its partners to disrupt organised criminal activity and deliver maximum damage to the criminal environment.”
The AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce restrained more than $250 million in criminal assets across Australia and overseas last financial year.
Residential and commercial properties, rural land, luxury cars and boats, cash, cryptocurrency and high-end jewellery including a diamond encrusted Rolex were among the restrained assets.
A two-storey Caroline Springs home and Volkswagon Amarok was seized by the task-force in connection to a multimillion-dollar customs fraud and alcohol smuggling bust.
Police also restrained a 3000 acre farm on Tasmania’s north eastern coast valued at $5 million in relation to a large scale money laundering racket originating in China.
The task-force also targets illegal assets related to drug trafficking and identity and tax crime.
AFP, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Australian Taxation Office, AUSTRAC and the Australian Border Force work together on the task-force to trace, restrain and confiscate criminal assets.
The task-force uses Commonwealth powers to secretly restrain assets of criminal groups.
Proceeds of the assets are then redistributed into crime prevention measures including child protection programs and a national DNA program for unidentified and missing people.
Me Jerga said: “Whether it takes us several years or seventeen years of hard fought litigation, (we) will not let go until every asset we have restrained has been confiscated.”
“We must and we will continue to target serious and organised crime in this way, and our highly skilled and determined team of specialist criminal asset investigators, forensic accountants and litigators are up to this challenge.”
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