Police swoop on alleged $150m Sydney tobacco syndicate
Four men have been arrested and charged over their alleged involvement in what police say is a sophisticated money laundering syndicate accused of washing more than $150 million linked to the lucrative illicit tobacco trade with the help of foreign university students.
Investigators from the Australian Federal Police, NSW Police, the Australian Border Force and the financial crimes watchdog, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, swooped on more than a dozen homes and storage units across Sydney on Monday, seizing 10 tonnes of illicit tobacco, more than $200,000 in cash and a money counting machine.Police will allege the syndicate has links to the importation and distribution of illicit tobacco and had been laundering ill-gotten gains for several organised crime groups. The AFP and NSW Police jointly established Operation Avarus-Mustang, targeting the syndicate and the groups it was allegedly laundering money for, in May this year.AFP Detective Superintendent Peter Fogarty said the syndicate was believed to have been operating for at least two years and was “crime agnostic”, allegedly laundering money for criminal groups earning income from the drug trade, commissioned acts of violence and theft.On Monday morning, Haihao He, who police allege is a senior member of the syndicate, was arrested at his Dundas Valley home and charged with three counts of dealing with the proceeds of crime worth more than $1 million. Police will allege the 38-year-old laundered $23 million, alleged to be the proceeds of crime, for the syndicate through bank accounts linked to fraudulent businesses.Senior members of the syndicate allegedly recruited people – known as “straw directors” – to register the businesses and open the accounts, which police allege syndicate members then took control of to receive large amounts of cash into them.
Police will allege the syndicate has links to the importation and distribution of illicit tobacco and had been laundering ill-gotten gains for several organised crime groups. The AFP and NSW Police jointly established Operation Avarus-Mustang, targeting the syndicate and the groups it was allegedly laundering money for, in May this year.
AFP Detective Superintendent Peter Fogarty said the syndicate was believed to have been operating for at least two years and was “crime agnostic”, allegedly laundering money for criminal groups earning income from the drug trade, commissioned acts of violence and theft.
On Monday morning, Haihao He, who police allege is a senior member of the syndicate, was arrested at his Dundas Valley home and charged with three counts of dealing with the proceeds of crime worth more than $1 million. Police will allege the 38-year-old laundered $23 million, alleged to be the proceeds of crime, for the syndicate through bank accounts linked to fraudulent businesses.
Senior members of the syndicate allegedly recruited people – known as “straw directors” – to register the businesses and open the accounts, which police allege syndicate members then took control of to receive large amounts of cash into them.
