Aussie police link dirty cash to Chinese syndicate

An exclusive from the Age newspaper yesterday revealed that Australian police have uncovered a suspected Chinese money laundering syndicate headquartered in Victoria and NSW that is moving hundreds of millions of dollars annually to China and across the globe.

Australian law enforcement agencies, in partnership with officials from the United States and Canada, have also compiled intelligence that suggests Chinese companies and brokers are supplying the vast majority of precursor chemicals used to make illicit drugs on the Australian market.

According to the report, the suspected syndicate, known as the “Chen Organization”, counts as its customers “Asian triads and bikies,” according to briefings from officials.

Macau’s Sun City casino high-roller business – which has been repeatedly implicated in organized crime and whose founder, Alvin Chau, has been charged with money laundering, illegal gambling and criminal association – used the Chen Organization to move tens of millions of dollars from Australia to China, The Age reported.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw told his counterparts on Tuesday night that some “countries … [are] producing precursors at an eye-watering scale”, and governments were “turning a blind eye to the proceeds of crime washing through their economies.” MDT