Police in Australia have arrested a mother and daughter accused of running a large scale financial scam that targeted vulnerable members of the Vietnamese community. Authorities say the duo allegedly defrauded victims of almost seventy million Australian dollars, equal to about forty six million US dollars.
The mother, aged fifty three, was taken into custody on Wednesday in the Sydney suburb of Dover Heights along with her twenty five year old daughter. Police describe the pair as key members of a highly sophisticated fraud and money laundering network. The mother allegedly posed as a fortune teller and feng shui master, telling victims she could see a “billionaire” in their future. She then convinced them to take out loans and kept a share of the money for herself.
She has been denied bail and will appear in court on Thursday. Her daughter was granted bail and is scheduled to appear in court in January. The mother faces thirty nine charges, including directing a criminal group and dishonestly obtaining financial gain. The daughter faces seven charges, including dealing with proceeds of crime and involvement in a criminal group.
During the early morning raid, officers seized financial documents, mobile phones, luxury handbags, a forty gram gold bar valued at about ten thousand Australian dollars and casino chips worth six thousand six hundred Australian dollars. Police say the mother was well known and trusted in her community. As part of her fortune telling sessions, some clients shared their financial struggles, and she would promise that a billionaire would help them if they took out loans quickly.
As part of the operation, police froze about fifteen million Australian dollars in assets, in addition to sixty million Australian dollars already seized in an earlier phase of the investigation. The broader probe began last year under Strike Force Myddleton, which initially looked into a criminal group using stolen identities to obtain loans for ghost cars, or luxury vehicles that did not exist.
Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja, who leads the Financial Crimes Squad, said the inquiry has uncovered one of the most sophisticated crime syndicates he has seen. Police allege the group engaged in large scale personal, business and home loan fraud involving numerous financial institutions.
According to a common publication, the duo is connected to what has been called the Penthouse Syndicate, whose alleged head lived in an eighteen million Australian dollar penthouse in Sydney. Police say the network may have defrauded major banks of up to two hundred fifty million Australian dollars with the help of corrupt bank employees.
More than a dozen suspects have already been arrested, and police expect more detentions focusing on lawyers, accountants and property developers believed to have helped the criminal network.
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