Part of a painting of a green tractor recovered by police. Photo: AFP
Eleven properties, a yacht, rare paintings, jewellery and investment funds worth more than $11 million have been seized by the Commonwealth.
Revenue from the sale of this items will be used to fund further policing efforts, says the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
Seized item include a $800,000 luxury yacht, $450,000 in investment funds, five original paintings (by Australian artists Brett Whiteley, Ben Quilty, Fred Williams and Adam Cullen) worth $500,000, fine jewellery (like Rolex watches and Cartier bracelets) worth more than $75,000 and 11 properties in Melbourne (including Mickleham, Malvern East, Essendon and Moonee Ponds) collectively estimated to be worth more than $8.7 million.
AFP Detective Superintendent Scott Raven said stripping criminals of illegal wealth was a key operational priority for them.
“Investigators, forensic accountants and litigation lawyers will ensure people justify how they accumulate their wealth and target any assets that are not linked to lawful sources,” he says.
“This prevents the bankrolling of further criminal activity and makes crime less financially lucrative.
“Outcomes such as this one in Victoria are key to disrupting and deterring serious organised crime across the country.”
The haul was seized as suspected proceeds of crime by a Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) investigation that was part of the AFP-led Operation Fuji, which targeted a large Middle Eastern organised crime syndicate.
The confiscation was approved by the Supreme Court of Victoria.
The assets, and revenue from their sale, will go into a special purpose fund that supports crime prevention and policing work.
Supt Raven says the result highlights the importance of working to remove every shred of benefit that criminals derive.
“Money remains the lifeblood of organised crime. Cutting off the flow of ill-gotten finances helps prevent further harm to the community by cutting off revenue and motivation,” he says.
“It is rewarding that funds forfeited through the CACT’s work are redirected to the programs that benefit the community.”
The AFP-led CACT also involves Australian Border Force, Australian Taxation Office, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and AUSTRAC.
Since July 2019, CACT has restrained more than $1.2 billion in criminal assets, including houses, cars, fine art and luxury yachts.
