Court orders forfeiture of $5 million cash seized in Operation Ironside
Editor’s note: Radio grabs and an image of the forfeited cash are available via Hightail
A court has ordered nearly $5 million cash seized from a rural property in New South Wales during the Australian Federal Police-led Operation Ironside be forfeited to the Commonwealth.
The AFP, with assistance from the NSW Police Force Drugs and Firearms Squad, discovered the cash inside the wall of a sheet metal shed when they executed an Operation Ironside-Rega search warrant on 9 June 2021.
During the search of a property in Quorrobolong, police discovered 49 bundles of Australian currency inside the wall crevices, with each bundle containing about $100,000.
A subsequent investigation by the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) secured the forfeiture of the $4.997 million cash, with the New South Wales Supreme Court making orders on Monday (21 March 2022) pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth).
During the Operation Ironside warrants, police also seized two motorcycles, two vehicles and a number of designer handbags. An alleged encrypted communications device that had recently been burnt in a fire was also located.
A 51-year-old Quorrobolong man was arrested and charged with dealing with property reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime, contrary to section 400.3(1A) of the Criminal Code (Cth). The man has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment, and criminal proceedings are ongoing.
AFP Criminal Assets Confiscation national manager Stefan Jerga said there was no better way of proving crime does not pay than by taking away every dollar of ill-gotten gains amassed by offenders.
“We heard directly from those arrested during Operation Ironside that losing the trappings of their criminal and fraudulent lifestyles was scarier than the long-term prison sentences they face,” Mr Jerga said.
“This activity highlights to all criminals that no matter how lavishly they think they are living, it’s all a mirage that will get taken away the instant we come knocking on their door.
“Taking away the illicit cash also ensures they cannot fund future criminal ventures.”
While the AFP-led CACT continues to pursue criminal assets in Operation Ironside, the CACT has to date restrained property worth about $47 million as a result of Operation Ironside.
Funds from all forfeited assets, including the nearly $5 million cashed confiscated in this matter, will be deposited into the Commonwealth Confiscated Assets Account, which is managed by the Australian Financial Security Authority. Funds in this account are then redistributed by the Minister for Home Affairs to support crime prevention, law enforcement and other initiatives which make our communities safer and stronger.
The CACT brings together the resources and expertise of police, financial investigators, lawyers, forensic accountants and partner agency specialists from the Australian Taxation Office, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, AUSTRAC and the Australian Border Force.
A key strategy of the CACT is to combat serious and organised crime by removing the profit from crime and preventing its reinvestment in further criminal enterprise. Targeting the criminal business model and confiscating criminal assets is crucial to disrupting and deterring organised crime, whose primary motivation is profit.
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