Super a target for organised crime: AFP

A parliamentary inquiry has been told that self-managed superannuation is at risk of being exploited by organised crime.

File photo $100 dollar notes

File (AAP)

Keep a watchful eye on your retirement nest egg.

That's the message law enforcement agencies have left with a parliamentary committee.

The billions of dollars of superannuation sloshing around Australia's financial system make it a prime target for criminals.

There is around $1.8 trillion invested in super, $600 billion of which is held by self-managed superannuation funds (SMSF).

Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner for operations Michael Phelan told the joint committee on law enforcement that SMSF savings are extremely vulnerable to organised crime.

"A lot of this money is available for sophisticated criminals to have a go at," he told an inquiry into financial-related crime on Wednesday.

He said at a time when people were looking for greater investment returns, people should be wary even if someone was offering just a few points above the eight to 12 per cent norm.

People might view this as a good investment opportunity, rather than one that smacked of fraud, particularly when backed by seemingly authentic websites and documentation.

Mr Phelan believes such fraud is seriously under-reported because people are embarrassed that they have been duped, particularly professionals such as doctors, lawyers and accountants.

He would like to see commonwealth laws drawn up that better co-ordinates regulators - such as the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority - and federal, state and territory police forces to tackle such crime.

"The vulnerability across society is too big for us not worry about," he said.

Australian Crime Commission chief Chris Dawson agrees the SMSF sector is one that needs close attention, not just by law enforcement and the regulators but the investors themselves because super is not used as an everyday account.

"Unless they are actively engaging and looking at that, it may well be someone playing around their money or indeed defrauding them," he told the hearing.

He said criminal entities would exploit these sorts of areas because investors don't monitor it themselves and can't rely on the regulators to do it.


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