The global financial crisis has made Australia a whole lot more attractive to organised crime gangs, a new report says.
The 2013 report on organised crime in Australia says syndicates across the world used the economic slowdown to launder proceeds of crime.
They bought up assets in the legitimate economy, with some amassing large real estate portfolios bought at bargain basement prices.
Some criminal syndicates even provided capital, derived from drug profits, to save some banks from collapse.
Others expanded loan shark activities, offering loans to struggling businesses at extortionate rates when banks tightened their lending criteria.
The report says the relative strength of the Australian economy in the wake of the GFC means criminals will come looking for a safe place to park their new "legitimate" assets.
"This may mean that organised crime will be seeking to deposit laundered funds into Australian banks, to invest in Australian business or the Australian stock market, or to put money into tangible assets such as real estate," the report warns.
It also says international drug trafficking rings will continue to target Australia, because of the high price users pay here for illicit drugs.
"Not only will their product be sold at higher wholesale prices than almost anywhere else in the world, but the profits from the sale of the drugs - earned in Australian dollars which remain strong in international financial markets - will have a high value when moved offshore," the report says.
The potential for significant profits will encourage organised crime groups to aggressively seek to capture part of the lucrative Australian market.
The relative strength of the Australian economy, and the comparatively affluent population, have also made Australia an attractive target for crime groups involved in fraud.
"With a compulsory superannuation regime, and superannuation assets in Australia currently estimated at A$1.3 trillion, highly sophisticated offshore organised fraud networks have established, and will continue to establish, complex fraudulent schemes to steal superannuation savings," the report warns.
"Individual Australians are being targeted for mass marketed fraud, including boiler-room or cold-call investment fraud, and Ponzi schemes, with organised crime also seeking to exploit and manipulate the legitimate securities and share market for criminal gain.
"These financial crimes are emerging as an important threat, and have the potential to do significant harm to the Australian economy and the Australian community."
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