A 45-year-old man will face court accused of laundering more than $2.4 million for an organised crime group through his construction business. The man was arrested at a home in Killara on Sydney's North Shore on Friday following a joint investigation by NSW Police and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) that began in December.
Alleged scheme involved cash payments and fraudulent invoices
Police allege that between June 2024 and November 2025, the man paid his staff using cash provided by a criminal syndicate. He is then accused of using legitimately earned business revenue to pay the syndicate through fraudulent invoices, while also taking a commission for himself.
The man was charged with one count of dealing with proceeds of crime worth more than $1 million. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison.
Link to larger money laundering investigation
Investigations into the man were launched after he was allegedly linked to a group of four men accused of laundering $150 million in a separate plot. Those men remain before the courts.
AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Dan Burnicle said investigations into alleged money laundering are inherently difficult and negatively impact the broader community. "We allege this man used his own business as a front to launder dirty cash and avoid taxes, which enabled the money laundering syndicate to keep up their services for organised crime," Burnicle said.
Broader impact of money laundering
"Laundering any form of illicit cash is a criminal offence and fuels further criminal activity which negatively impacts the community, such as drug trafficking and cybercrime," he added. The AFP and NSW Police continue to investigate the syndicate's activities.
