logo
Alleged money laundering scheme is busted as cops uncover complex network in Australia

Alleged money laundering scheme is busted as cops uncover complex network in Australia

Daily Mail​a day ago

A security company allegedly used an armoured transport service to smuggle cash around the nation as it laundered millions of dollars of criminal proceeds.
Three men - aged 32, 48 and 58 - and a 35-year-old woman have been charged with multiple money laundering offences, Australian Federal Police say.
Investigations continue into the scheme that allegedly transferred $190million into cryptocurrency between October 2022 and May 2024.
Authorities have restrained 17 properties, bank accounts and luxury cars in NSW and Queensland worth more than $21million, allegedly purchased with tainted money.
'This investigation has unravelled a sophisticated operation that allegedly moved illicit cash around the country,' AFP Detective Superintendent Adrian Telfer told reporters on Monday.
'It was truly a national operation, laundering the profits of criminal ventures across the country, (and) these cash profits were being flown into Queensland to be washed and returned to individuals.'
Investigators allege the Gold Coast-based security company used a complex network of bank accounts, businesses, couriers and cryptocurrency accounts to launder millions of dollars of illicit funds over 18 months.
'The results we are announcing today will deliver a significant blow to alleged individuals, whoever relied on this operation to turn their ill-got profits into property portfolios, luxury cars and cryptocurrency,' Mr Telfer said.
AFP Detective Superintendent Adrian Telfer claimed the alleged operation was a 'sophisticated operation that allegedly moved illicit cash around the country' (pictured, a Nissan GT-R seized by police)
The 48-year-old man and the woman, who were the director and general manager respectively of the security business, were each charged with a money laundering offence.
The couple was granted bail to face Southport Magistrates Court on July 21.
The 58-year-old man is accused of funnelling laundered money through a business account to a separate business account controlled by the 32-year-old man.
He was also charged with two money laundering offences and was granted bail to face Brisbane Magistrates Court on August 1.
The 32-year-old man is accused of laundering $9.5 million through the operation over 15 months.
He has been charged with money laundering and failing to provide the password to a mobile phone.
He has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to face Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Doctor mistakenly implants wrong embryo in IVF patient mix-up
Doctor mistakenly implants wrong embryo in IVF patient mix-up

The Independent

time2 hours ago

  • The Independent

Doctor mistakenly implants wrong embryo in IVF patient mix-up

One of Australia 's top IVF providers mistakenly implanted a patient with her own embryo instead of her partner's. Monash IVF said the incident occurred on June 5 at a clinic in Melbourne but did not provide further details, such as how it learned of the bungle or what the couple planned to do next. The company said it was supporting the couple, who it did not identify. It marks the second fertility clinic mix-up of its kind in the country, heightening concerns about an industry that did not have much active government oversight until recently. The clinic said the patient's embryo was mistakenly implanted under a treatment plan which called for an embryo from the patient's partner to be transferred. The incident builds on a reputational maelstrom for Monash IVF, which was already reeling from an April disclosure that an Australian woman had given birth to a stranger's baby after a fertility doctor accidentally implanted the wrong embryo in Brisbane in 2023. That mix-up sparked concerns about security protocols at IVF clinics and an industry which is only now in the process of being more regulated. Monash claimed the world's first IVF pregnancy five decades ago and is Australia's second-largest IVF provider, carrying out nearly a quarter of the country's 100,000 assisted reproductive cycles a year, according to industry data. "This mix-up, the second reported incident at Monash IVF, risks shaking confidence not just in one provider but across the entire fertility sector," said Hilary Bowman-Smart, a researcher and bioethicist at the University of South Australia. Shares of Monash IVF were down 25 per cent by mid-session on Tuesday, against a rising broader market. The stock is just over half its value before the April announcement. "We had thought the Brisbane clinic embryo transfer error was an isolated incident," Craig Wong-Pan, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a client note. "We believe there is now risk of a greater impact of reputational damage and market share losses to MVF's operations." Monash IVF had already hired a lawyer to run an independent investigation after the Brisbane incident, and said on Tuesday it has extended the scope of that investigation. It added that it was installing interim extra verification safeguards to ensure patient confidence. It said it had reported the Melbourne incident to the Victorian Department of Health and industry licensing body, the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee (RTAC), part of industry group the Fertility Society of Australia. Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the department was investigating the company and the incident. "Families should have confidence that the treatment they are receiving is done to the highest standard," she said. "It is clear Monash IVF has failed to deliver that, which is completely unacceptable." Fertility Society president Petra Wale said the incident would have had an emotional toll on the family, but stressed mistakes in the sector were rare. The society reiterated a call to implement nationally consistent laws around IVF. Currently, the country's IVF industry is regulated by a combination of industry bodies and state and territory health departments, resulting in a governance and compliance system that some groups say is too complex. Reports of transferring the wrong embryo are rare, according to fertility experts, and Monash's Brisbane mix-up was widely reported as the first known case of its kind.

Erin Patterson's claims she had booked in drastic weight loss surgery put under the spotlight in another day of intense cross examination
Erin Patterson's claims she had booked in drastic weight loss surgery put under the spotlight in another day of intense cross examination

Daily Mail​

time2 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Erin Patterson's claims she had booked in drastic weight loss surgery put under the spotlight in another day of intense cross examination

Erin Patterson 's claims she was planning to undergo weight loss surgery have been scrutinised by the prosecution as she returns to court for her murder trial. After enjoying a public holiday on Monday, Patterson was once again forced to front Crown prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers in the witness box within the Latrobe Valley Law Courts in Morwell, in Victoria's east. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. They died after consuming death cap mushrooms served in beef Wellington during lunch at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023. On Friday, Patterson had told the jury she had planned to have gastric bypass surgery, which had been booked into the Enrich Clinic in leafy South Yarra. The jury had previously heard Patterson had allegedly lured her guests over for lunch to tell them about a 'medical issue' she had to deal with and how she might break the news to her two children. That issue, according to lone survivor Ian Wilkinson, was said to be ovarian cancer - a lie Patterson admits telling her guests. Patterson had hoped her estranged husband Simon would also attend the lunch, informing him on July 16 that she had some medical issues to discuss. 'That wasn't a lie,' Patterson insisted about the news she intended to tell Simon. 'I was going to have surgery soon ... gastric bypass surgery,' she told Dr Rogers. 'I had an appointment for early September.' During Tuesday's proceedings, Dr Rogers questioned whether Patterson had lied about that supposed surgery too. 'I want to put some things to you about that and ask if you agree or disagree. The first is the Enrich clinic offices services in Cosmetic dermatology,' she said. The jury heard Patterson's appointment had been scheduled for September 13, 2023 but was cancelled two days earlier. 'The Enrich Clinic does not offer gastric bypass surgery or gastric sleeve surgery. Agree or disagree?' Dr Rogers asked. 'I don't know,' Patterson responded. 'The Enrich Clinic does not conduct assessments relating to gastric bypass surgery or gastric sleeve surgery. Agree or disagree?' Dr Rogers continued. 'I don't know, but I'm a bit puzzled,' Patterson said. 'I had an appointment with them and that's what, my memory is that the appointment was for (that), so that's why I'm puzzled.' 'The appointment that you have told this jury about on Friday had nothing to do with gastric bypass surgery. Agree or disagree?' Dr Rogers said. 'Well, it would've been related to weight loss surgery,' Patterson replied. 'Perhaps it was a different procedure I was doing through them and I was looking into liposuction as well.' Dr Rogers suggested Patterson had lied to the jury in sworn evidence about having a pre-surgery appointment for gastric bypass surgery booked in. 'No, it wasn't a lie. That's what my memory was,' Patterson said. Dr Rogers bombarded Patterson with questions and accusations throughout much of the day. In one exchange, Dr Rogers accused Patterson of pretending to be sick after the deadly lunch to cast off suspicions she had deliberately poisoned her guests. The court heard Patterson had called Simon two days after the lunch and told him she felt well enough to pick up the kids from school. 'I'm glad you feel healthy enough to make that drive to pick up the kids,' Simon told her. Dr Rogers said Simon's evidence was that Patterson then paused before agreeing to allow him to collect the children instead. 'Do you agree that you paused?' Dr Rogers said. 'I don't remember,' Patterson replied. 'I suggest that you paused because you realised that if you insisted on going to pick up the children that that would undermine your (claims that you were unwell),' Dr Rogers said. Patterson claimed she could not recall the 'pause' but said if she had it would have likely been because she was taken aback by Simon's 'really sarcastic tone'. 'I found it quite off-putting,' she said. 'Are you making this up as you go along, Ms Patterson?' Dr Rogers responded. The prosecutor continued to question Patterson about her actions following the deadly lunch, accusing her of feigning nausea, diarrhoea and abdominal pain in conversations with health professionals, her children, child protection workers and her husband so they wouldn't suspect she had deliberately poisoned her guests. 'You wanted it to appear as though you were as seriously unwell as you other lunch guests,' she said. 'Incorrect,' Patterson replied. 'I suggest that you were not seriously unwell because you did not consume even a minute amount of death cap mushrooms at the lunch,' Dr Rogers said. 'I have no idea whether I did or didn't,' Patterson said. 'You were not suffering from death cap mushroom poisoning. Correct or incorrect?' Dr Rogers continued. 'I have no idea.' 'You deliberately tried to make it seem as though you were unwell. Correct or incorrect?' 'Incorrect,' Patterson insisted. While the jury heard at the beginning of the trial the prosecution would offer no motive as to why Patterson allegedly murdered her guests, Dr Rogers suggested the mother of two had actually hoped her estranged husband Simon would attend. The jury has heard Simon Patterson pulled out of the lunch the night before, leaving his parents, uncle and auntie to attend the meal without him. Patterson has maintained to anyone who has asked that she loved Don and Gail Patterson. She has denied all of the allegations, maintaining what happened at the lunch was a tragic accident. 'They did love me and I did love them,' she said of Simon's parents. 'I do love them.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store