The Australian Federal Police has disrupted what it says is one of the most significant money laundering syndicates to ever operate in this country. Police say the group, which was based in Sydney but has close links to China, laundered money on an "industrial scale", to hide profits from criminal activity.
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Kirsty Schofield says the assets seized total more than $150-million.
Operation Avarus-Midas began early last year, [[2022]] and culminated this week in 13 search warrants being executed across Sydney, and the arrests of nine people.
The issue of money laundering remains significant both here and abroad.
The United Nations estimates that between 2 and 5 per cent of global G-D-P is lost each year to the practice.
That's between 800 billion and 2 trillion U-S dollars.
In Australia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates the value of local crime proceeds laundered each year to be somewhere in the vicinity of $13 billion.
In 2020, the U-S State Department listed Australia as a "primary jurisdiction of concern" for money laundering.
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