A long-running Australian multi-agency investiga

Masterminds Convert Cash to Crypto in Bid to Hide Funds

An Australian multi-agency investigation has dismantled a complex money laundering operation in Queensland, resulting in charges against four individuals and the restraint of approximately $13.7 million (AUD 21 million) in criminal assets. At the center of the alleged scheme was a security company that reportedly converted nearly $124 million in cash into cryptocurrency as part of a sophisticated attempt to obscure illicit funds.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP)-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) froze properties, bank accounts, and vehicles across Queensland and New South Wales, all suspected to be proceeds of crime.

According to a joint statement, more than 70 officers from the Queensland Joint Organized Crime Taskforce (QJOCTF) executed 14 search warrants across Brisbane and the Gold Coast. AUSTRAC and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) provided analytical expertise and monitored cash “dead drops” nationwide.