AFP freezing assets as hunt for dirty money goes global
The Australian Federal Police has succeeded in freezing assets of drug-smugglers, money-launderers and gangsters in 11 countries as the hunt for dirty money goes global.
The Australian Federal Police has succeeded in freezing assets of drug-smugglers, money-launderers and gangsters in 11 countries as the hunt for dirty money goes global.
Houses, apartments, cash, bank accounts and expensive cars have been restrained across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America, as the AFP works with law enforcement partners to target crime profits hidden overseas.
Thailand and Vietnam are believed to be two of the countries where assets have been taken from organised crime figures. And further enforcement activity is believed to be under way in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, where a number of gangsters are hiding out after being identified through the police Trojan horse app AN0M.
About $200m in assets have been restrained, with most now the subject of legal proceedings to have them forfeited permanently to the Australian government, or the government of the countries where the assets were acquired.
The AFP is able to take action in countries that have similar or reciprocal proceeds-of-crime legislation through the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.
The AFP has been secretly operating a taskforce known as Avarus, targeting the money-launderers who facilitate organised crime by washing their dirty money clean.
Fugitive drug-trafficker Hakan Ayik, who has been living a life of luxury in Istanbul, is being targeted by the AFP’s money-laundering specialists and the Criminal Asset Confiscation Team.
The lavish lifestyle being enjoyed in Dubai by the wife of Duax Ngakuru, the New Zealand-born Australian Comanchero supreme leader who is currently in detention in Turkey, is also under scrutiny.
Alleged gangsters revealed a number of their assets on AN0M, the app that was touted as a secure way to communicate to avoid law enforcement, but was actually a Trojan horse being run by the FBI and monitored by the AFP, which intercepted more than 28 million messages.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Kirsty Schofield would not name any individual targets, but said: “Global asset and financial tracing actions are ongoing in relation to a range of AFP high-value targets.
“The AFP works closely with Australia’s international law enforcement partners to actively target organised crime wealth wherever it may be.
“The days of these targets thinking they are financially secure if they invest in certain countries where they can gain residency through investment or expensive real estate are long gone.
“As many recent so-called high-level Australian criminals have found, the AFP is relentless in pursuing these people when they are a threat to the Australian community and national security.
“Seizing their money is only one aspect of what the AFP will do with its global partners to ensure these people are no longer threats in the countries where they hide, where they invest and where they mistakenly think they can exploit those offshore countries.
“This is where the current crop of targets are less than sophisticated – we are well aware of their attempts to hide funds and methodology. There is no if – just when.’’
Last year, the AFP seized $1m from two Thai bank accounts, after investigating the activities of a West Australian man and his family and associates in Perth and Bangkok.
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