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    White collar crime

    Yesterday

    Fresh Xpress passed the fraudulently obtained money onto farming interests also owned by the Musumeci family.

    Westpac wins $15m fruit stand fraud case

    Fresh Xpress created “entirely fictitious” accounts, which included fake invoices and overstated profits, a court has found.

    • Lucas Baird

    This Month

    Mark Dreyfus.

    Law Council calls for anti-money laundering carve-outs

    The Law Council of Australia says it supports “balanced” reforms, but will argue for significant carve-outs in relation to client legal privilege.

    • Maxim Shanahan
    Bill Hwang, founder of Archegos Capital Management, arrives at federal court in New York this week.

    Archegos founder Hwang found guilty over fund’s $53b collapse

    The Archegos meltdown in 2021 sent shock waves across Wall Street and drew regulatory scrutiny on three continents.

    • Jody Godoy

    Why diamond studded Swiss watches and luxury handbags worry AUSTRAC

    The financial crimes watchdog’s chief executive Brendan Thomas says luxury goods along with cash and real estate have received its highest risk rating.

    • Ronald Mizen
    Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.

    No backward step cutting off money flow to criminals: Dreyfus

    The strong words from the attorney-general will come hours after the international body tasked with co-ordinating global AML/CTF efforts slams Australia’s performance.

    • Ronald Mizen
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    Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh.

    Labor plays down call to break up ASIC, talks up whistleblower rewards

    The Australian Securities and Investments Commission was on Wednesday accused of being a “toothless tiger” in the final report of a 20-month Senate inquiry.

    • Ronald Mizen

    June

    Former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch arrives at federal court in San Francisco last month.

    UK tech tycoon Lynch cleared of HP fraud charges in $16.5b deal

    Entrepreneur Mike Lynch had been extradited to the United States to face a criminal trial over the sale to HP in 2011, ending a mammoth legal saga.

    • Updated
    • Rachel Graf
    ASIC Chairman Joe Longo.

    ASIC lawsuit reveals up to $2.8m axed from audit oversight

    For the first time ASIC has candidly admitted the extent of changes that led to its annual report card on the big four accounting firms’ audit quality being scrapped.

    • Ronald Mizen

    May

    An international report has warned ill-gotten money from Cambodia is being laundered via Australian property.

    Labor steps up fight to stop dirty money from buying homes

    Proposed anti-money laundering rules will rope in real estate agents and lawyers, amid concerns Australia could become a destination for dirty cash.

    • Campbell Kwan

    April

    ASIC chair Joe Longo.

    White-collar crime goes unpoliced due to lack of funds: ASIC boss

    “We would welcome additional funding and … there are matters we would like to run now we don’t,” ASIC chairman Joe Longo told a Senate committee.

    • Ronald Mizen
    Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death by a Vietnamese court.

    Real estate tycoon sentenced to death in huge $19b fraud case

    Truong My Lan started by selling perfume in a market but rose to become a billionaire real estate developer. Now she’s been sentenced to death in Vietnam’s biggest fraud case.

    • Khanh Vu
    Lobby group ClubsNSW says its members had recently met with the financial crime watchdog to ensure they were complying with anti-money laundering laws.

    NSW clubs ‘acutely aware’ of money laundering laws

    Lobby group ClubsNSW said its members had recently met with the financial crime watchdog to ensure they were complying with anti-money laundering laws.

    • Ronald Mizen
    AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas.

    AUSTRAC targets clubs’ pokies in $70b money laundering crackdown

    New CEO Brendan Thomas says “massive” clubs that rival Sydney’s Star casino and host three in four of the states pokies pose a “significant risk”.

    • Ronald Mizen

    March

    Sam Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried apologised to victims and admitted that he made “a series of bad decisions”.

    Fallen crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison

    “A lot of people feel really let down, and they were very let down, and I am sorry about that,” Bankman Fried told the court.

    • Updated
    • Matthew Cranston
    Jan Cameron.

    Jan Cameron fined $8000 for misleading market over Bellamy’s stake

    Once one of the wealthiest women in the country, the Kathmandu founder had been found guilty of hiding her big stake in the baby formula group.

    • Max Mason
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    ACCC chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb.

    ACCC to target airlines as complaints flow

    Bad service by the carriers will be an enforcement priority for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 2024-25, which will begin with a lawsuit against Qantas in July. 

    • Ronald Mizen

    February

    ‘Stick to your guns’: inside the fall of a Young Rich List waste king

    An afternoon coffee and a desperate string of WhatsApp messages helped seal the fate of Daniel Tartak and deliver a $30 million fine to waste giant Bingo.

    • Jemima Whyte and Max Mason
    TikTok says it co-operated with the Tax Office to permanently ban more than 60 accounts that promoted GST fraud.

    At least 150 ATO staff implicated in TikTok GST fraud

    At least 150 Tax Office officials have been investigated over a far-reaching GST fraud, with some sacked and others facing criminal investigations.

    • Tom McIlroy
    Sam Lee, founder and chairman of HyperFund, denies promoting what the SEC has described as a “Ponzi scheme”.

    Aussie crypto entrepreneur Sam Lee calls fraud charges ‘embarrassing’

    The Australian has rejected allegations he was the promotor of a scheme that allegedly defrauded investors out of $US1.89 billion.

    • Jessica Sier

    January

    Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

    Corporations laws a ‘tangled mess’ costing business too much: report

    Treasurer Jim Chalmers is being pressed to reform corporate laws after the Australian Law Reform Commission found they are overly long and complex.

    • Ronald Mizen