What kind of behavior in Australia would be defined as illegal transfer of funds

• In the disposal phase (placement):, money launderers first have to try to reinvest property from criminal activity into the financial system. The common method is to transfer illegal income into a bank account;
• In the segregation phase, (layering):, money launderers make use of modern and complex financial systems to create complex and multiple transfers or transactions of property. Through deliberate concealment and heavy packaging, money launderers can cut off illegal funds and their sources;
• At this point in the merger phase (integration):, the proceeds of crime have been bleached and it is difficult to discern the source of this asset.

In order to assist law enforcement units in tracing money-laundering activities, Australia`s money laundering and counter-Terrorism Finance Act (Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006) provides that anyone who has a reporting obligation under the law (such as a bank), Specific transactions shall be reported to the Australian transaction report Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) in accordance with the format specified by the Australian transaction reporting and Analysis Centre (AITC). This Law also requires individuals to declare the amount of money they carry with them when entering or leaving the country.

Is money laundering illegal?

Federal and state goverment laws make money laundering a criminal offence. Section 400 of the Federal goverment Criminal Code (Division 400 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) contains 19 provisions on money-laundering offences. For example:

The bank uses a pseudonym when opening an account, or does not actually declare with the bank all the names you use in Australia (if the Chinese name on your passport may not be the same as the English name you use in the workplace);

Through the transfer of money by ants or by carrying a small amount of cash into and out of the country each time, the declaration obligation to meet the original reporting standard (according to: ten thousand Australian dollars) transactions will be exempted;

Possession of assets that may reasonably be derived from the proceeds of crime.

Knowingly committed money laundering (punishable by up to 25 years imprisonment): defendant believes that the assets dealt with are proceeds of crime or are disposed of in order to facilitate other criminal acts;

Regardless of the consequences of money laundering (up to 12 years` imprisonment): defendant does not care whether the assets dealt with are proceeds of crime or for the purpose of assisting in the commission of the crime;

Not paying enough attention to money laundering (maximum sentence 5 years imprisonment): defendant failed to pay enough attention to prevent the crime of money laundering.

The Ansari brothers run a foreign exchange company called Exchange Point (Exchange Point Pty Ltd) in Sydney. In 2003, federal police found that the brothers were involved in "actively participating in underground financial transactions and acting as underground banks for Australian and overseas clients".

The money laundering patterns of the two brothers are as follows:

They built a managed cash pool in Sydney (some had collected $2.5 million in cash from their home over 18 months;

They opened dozens of bank accounts in the name of the company, making it easier for them to move and deposit small amounts less than 10, 000 Australian dollars to declare the threshold;

They inform overseas partners of the amount of their customers` deposits in Australia, where they transfer the equivalent cash to customers for overseas use;

All means of communication are through the mobile phone;

The client`s money is actually derived from the illegal proceeds of smuggling acid.

The brothers were eventually charged with two counts of money laundering. They are believed to be accomplices in money-laundering and do not care about the consequences of completing a client-directed ant move that could involve money laundering or tax evasion. Each of the two charges is punishable by a maximum sentence of 12 years` imprisonment. The brothers were eventually convicted of both counts, each of which was sentenced to seven years in prison. The appeals court considered the brothers to be intelligent expert criminals. Under the cover of the two brothers` legal exchange company, the two brothers are the heads of money-laundering organizations.

We can learn from the Ansari Brothers case: always do your duty of care, verify the identity of your guests, and report suspicious transactions in a timely manner. If you find yourself involved in money laundering, you must talk to your lawyer as soon as possible.