Australia unmasks $123M crypto laundering ring behind security firm

A multi-agency investigation traced illicit funds to a suspected $123 million crypto laundering operation hiding behind a security company.

Australian authorities have charged four individuals following an 18-month investigation into a $190 million Australian dollar ($123 million) crypto laundering operation allegedly run through a cash-in-transit security company.

The Australian Federal Police said they had frozen about $13.6 million worth of suspected criminal assets across the states of Queensland and New South Wales.

The Queensland Joint Organized Crime Taskforce (QJOCT), comprising 70 officers from federal and state agencies, began the investigation in December 2023. It reportedly uncovered an operation that used an armored vehicle unit of a security business as a front to launder criminal proceeds into cryptocurrency.

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