A West Australian man has been stripped of about $4 million in assets, including cash in bank accounts, an apartment and other property, after an international money laundering and tax fraud investigation by the Australian Federal Police.
The WA Supreme Court recently ordered more than $2.25 million and a Perth apartment valued at about $585,000 be forfeited to the commonwealth under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Another $1.2 million in cash was forfeited in December 2021 as part of the same investigation.
The investigation began in 2020 after intelligence identified suspicious banking activity and large fund transfers between bank accounts in WA and Thailand linked to the 60-year-old man.
While no criminal charges were brought, the man agreed to forfeit the assets after civil proceedings were launched.
Most of the funds were in bank accounts, in both Australia and Thailand, and held variously in the names of companies, a relative and the man's business associate.
Funds in the Thai accounts were restrained during the investigation with the assistance of the Royal Thai Police Crime Suppression Division and Thailand's Anti-Money Laundering Office.
AFP Commander Stephen Fry said the case should send a strong warning to anyone who lived a lifestyle they could not lawfully justify or whose wealth far surpassed the income they were declaring.
"The AFP and our domestic and international partners share intelligence to identify those who accumulate wealth they cannot explain and we are relentless in our efforts to ensure they cannot profit from exploiting the wider community," he said.
The forfeited funds and the proceeds of the sale of the apartment will be deposited into the commonwealth's Confiscated Assets Account.
Funds from the account are redistributed by the home affairs minister to benefit the community through crime prevention, intervention or diversion programs, or other law enforcement initiatives.
Australian Associated Press
