Australian officials have indicted four persons after an 18-month inquiry into a $190 million Australian dollar ($123 million) cryptocurrency laundering scheme purportedly operated through a cash-in-transit security firm.
The Australian Federal Police announced that approximately $13.6 million worth of suspected illicit assets had been frozen across Queensland and New South Wales.
The Queensland Joint Organized Crime Taskforce (QJOCT), consisting of 70 officers from federal and state organizations, initiated the investigation in December 2023. It reportedly revealed a scheme that utilized an armored vehicle division of a security company as a cover to launder criminal earnings into cryptocurrency.
Trails of transactions from one suspect, who allegedly laundered $9.5 million over 15 months, guided investigators to discover a sophisticated laundering operation disguised as legitimate commercial activity.
The security firm is accused of merging legitimate business revenues with illegal cash deposited by alleged criminals, subsequently channeling the money through a sales promotion enterprise, a classic car dealership, and cryptocurrency exchanges.
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The laundered money was then reportedly disbursed to beneficiaries in either cryptocurrency or through those front companies.
Cryptocurrency facilitates and combats money laundering
While blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize financial systems, its open and decentralized characteristics also appeal to criminals. It can serve as a double-edged sword in the battle against financial delinquency.
According to blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis, over $100 billion in cryptocurrency flowed from illegal wallets to conversion services between 2019 and mid-2024.
Cybercriminals have become increasingly skilled at utilizing mixers, DeFi protocols, and cross-chain bridges to obscure their activities and avoid detection. Nevertheless, the transparency of blockchain remains a significant asset for law enforcement to trace illicit transactions.
Crypto is virtual currency, but has real-life consequences
In the past few months, there has been a rise in incidents of cryptocurrency-related crime manifesting in the physical realm. Criminals are increasingly resorting to violence and coercion to acquire or safeguard digital assets.
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Moroccan authorities recently apprehended 24-year-old Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou, accused of masterminding a spree of crypto-related abductions, including a failed attempt to kidnap the daughter and grandson of Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat in Paris.
In another notable incident, Ledger co-founder David Balland was kidnapped from his residence in central France in January and held hostage for over a day before authorities rescued him.
In response to a spike in physical threats, the so-called “Bitcoin Family”—a Dutch nomadic family that liquidated all assets in 2017 to live solely on Bitcoin—enhanced their personal security by dividing their seed phrase across four continents and protecting it with customized security measures.
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