Accused money laundering players released from prison on bail

Houses worth millions have been put up as surety as three people in Melbourne allegedly involved in Australia’s biggest money laundering syndicate have been granted bail.

Chen Zhou, 37, and Lu Jie, 28, are led away from a property on Knutsford Street, Balwyn. The pair were arrested as part of Operation Avarus-Nightwolf, conducted by the AFP.,

Three people allegedly involved in a $229m money laundering syndicate have been granted bail, after the accused ringleader was also released on strict conditions last week.

Fei Duan, Ding Wang and Ye Qu were all ordered by Magistrate Malcolm Thomas to surrender their passports and not to contact other witnesses involved in the case before he agreed they could be released from prison after they were fitted with electronic monitoring bracelets.

All three belonged to a group of seven people accused by the AFP of being involved in operating the money-laundering syndicate through the Changjiang Currency Exchange.

Dubbed Operation Avarus-Nightwolf, investigators blew open the syndicate — called Long River — which they say moved $229m in illicit proceeds of crime between Australia, China and the US in the past three years.

Chen Zhou, 37, and Lu Jie, 28, were arrested as part of Operation Avarus-Nightwolf, conducted by the AFP.

The court heard Duan, a 37-year-old Chinese citizen with Australian citizenship, was released on surety worth $1.3m against a house in Hawthorn East.

That property is valued at $2.5m and is owned by Duan’s friends, who he has known for 10 years.

Wang, a 40-year-old Australian citizen who lives in Glen Iris, was released on surety at $1.3m against his father’s Narre Warren home which is worth $1.5m.

And Qu was released on two sureties of $600,000 against two properties, one of those is a home worth $4.3m and another is a home worth $1.5m.

Last week, the man police alleged was ringleader Zhuo Chen — a 37-year-old from Balwyn — was also released on bail, despite opposition from police amid concerns he contacted charter jet companies and ordered the destruction of evidence, the Herald Sun reported.

The three players were all ordered not to possess or deal with any cryptocurrency or have any dealings with any crypto-exchange.

They were banned from communicating with any past or present Changjiang Currency employees, cannot leave the boundary of the property they have been allowed to serve out bail in unless there is an emergency or for a prearranged meeting with lawyers and must only communicate via phone with a nominated handset.