Early morning raids
Australian police said on Thursday (October 26) that a Chinese organized crime group called “Long River” is accused of laundering A$229 million (US$143 million) between 2020 and 2023 through Changjiang Currency Exchange – one of the country’s largest independently owned money transfer companies with dozens of outlets across Australia.
Australian police arrested a suspect in a money laundering ring on October 25. Photo: PerthNow
The aforementioned allegations were made after 330 police officers and financial crime experts raided numerous apartments, homes, and offices in five cities, including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, in the early morning of October 25th and arrested seven people, including four Chinese nationals, believed to be members of the “Long River” gang.
“This organization is operating openly with shiny storefronts across the country – it’s not operating in the shadows like other money laundering organizations,” Stephen Dametto, Assistant Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police’s Eastern Command, said in a statement Thursday.
According to Dametto, investigators' suspicions first arose when the Changjiang Currency Exchange opened two new branches during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Many international students and tourists had returned home, and there was no clear business reason for the Changjiang Currency Exchange to expand,” Dametto said.
Australian police allege the Long River gang disguised proceeds from online scams, illicit trading, and other criminal activities through the Changjiang trading floor's daily, mostly legitimate, transactions. The amount is estimated to be as much as A$100 million.
The laundered money allowed the suspects to enjoy lavish lifestyles, including dinners at the country's most prestigious restaurants, travel by private jet, and own luxury homes worth more than A$10 million. Investigators said they have initially frozen assets worth more than A$50 million.
According to police allegations, members of the Long River gang purchased fake passports, each costing A$200,000, in preparation for fleeing Australia should any trouble arise.
"Operation Avarus-Nightwolf"
The Guardian reports that seven people arrested, aged between 35 and 40, will be tried in Melbourne City Court, Victoria. Investigators will also continue to seek testimony from the suspects to expand the case and uncover the entire money laundering ring.
The recently announced arrests are part of a formal investigation codenamed “Operation Avarus-Nightwolf,” which Australian police began conducting in August 2022 with assistance from six other agencies both domestically and internationally, including the US Department of Homeland Security.
According to Stephen Dametto, Assistant Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police's Eastern Command, the Long River gang is a mafia group with sophisticated and complex money laundering operations that has deeply infiltrated the financial services industry. "We believe this has allowed the gang to exploit loopholes in the financial system much more easily than many other organized crime groups," Dametto said.
Billions of dollars worth of cash, luxury cars, and other high-end goods were seized by Singaporean police from money launderers. (Photo: CNA)
The Guardian reported that experts estimate the Changjiang Currency Exchange transferred more than US$10 billion in the past three financial years. Most of this money came from law-abiding clients, but Australian police allege the company also systematically facilitated organized crime's clandestine transfer of illicit funds into and out of Australia during that period.
Money laundering activities are flourishing and becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Despite accusations from Australian police, the Changjiang Currency Exchange maintains its innocence and claims to have acted in accordance with all applicable laws.
“Changjiang is a legally operating company approved by the Commonwealth of Australia and its Financial Transaction Reporting and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) financial registration number is 100-572684,” Changjiang’s website states. “We are registered with AUSTRAC on the Money Transfer Sector Register and are subject to the obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counterterrorism Financing Act 2006.”
The final conclusion will have to wait for a court ruling. But the arrests by Australian police show that money laundering activities linked to Chinese criminal gangs are flourishing in the Asia-Pacific region. Just last month, Singaporean police also announced the arrest of 10 suspects, all holding Chinese passports, in a crackdown on a money laundering ring.
The scale of the case in Singapore is far larger than in Australia. Authorities in the island nation have seized cash, real estate, luxury cars, cryptocurrencies, and luxury goods worth up to S$2.8 billion (approximately US$2 billion). Among the 10 suspects, several are also wanted by Chinese police for their involvement in an online gambling ring.
And just like in Australia, money laundering criminals in Singapore are also highly sophisticated and employ very effective methods, exploiting loopholes in the country's already tightly controlled financial system.
This shows that money laundering activities are becoming increasingly complex, often conducted in stages and through multiple parties and transactions, making detection much more difficult than before. Not to mention, new technologies, culminating in digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, are also providing further avenues for criminals.
Quang Anh
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