Long River money laundering syndicate accused named in court

Seven people have appeared in a Melbourne court after Australia’s biggest ever money laundering sting.

Lu Jie, 28, of Balwyn, a Chinese citizen with Australian residency, is led away from a property on Wednesday.

Seven people have appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court following raids by the Australian Federal Police’s Operation Avarus-Nightwolf money-laundering investigators.

The four men and three women from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs are accused of being senior members of the Long River money-laundering syndicate, which police allege moved $229 million in illicit proceeds of crime between Australia, China and the US over the past three years.

Six of the accused appeared on Thursday morning before magistrate Steven Raleigh on a number of conspiracy to money-launder charges. Most of the charges relate to alleged proceeds of crime totaling more than $10 million.

Lu Jie, 28, of Balwyn, a Chinese citizen with Australian residency, is among the accused. The court heard Ms Lu had a 21-month-old baby and it was her first time in custody.

Wang Ding, 40, of Glen Iris, an Australian citizen, also appeared, waving to an elderly man and a young woman watching in the court as he was led from the dock. The court was told it was his first time in custody.

Married couple Zhu Jin and Qu Ye, both 35, of Kew, appeared in the dock together. A Mandarin interpreter was brought in to assist Ms Zhu. The pair, both Chinese citizens with Australian residency, have two children and the court was told it was their first time in custody.

Duan Fei, a 37-year-old Chinese citizen with Australian citizenship, also appeared. Mr Duan, from Balwyn north, was also assisted by a Mandarin interpreter, and the court heard he had limited English.

Wang Jin, a 33-year-old woman from Vermont, an Australian citizen, also used a Mandarin interpreter. It was also her first time in custody.

A seventh man appeared in court late on Wednesday. Australian citizen Chen Zhou, 37, of Balwyn, was charged with two counts of conspiring to deal and engage in conduct with the proceeds of general crime, valued at $10m or more. The property where Mr Chen was residing, a $10 million mansion in Balwyn, has been seized by police.

Police allege the group had control of the Changjiang Currency Exchange money remittance chain in Australia, and that the illicit funds were hidden within $10 billion of legitimate funds moved by Changjiang over the past three years.

All seven were remanded in custody and none sought bail.

They are all expected to make bail applications in the coming weeks.