New Criminal Assets Confiscation Team to target unexplained wealth of organised crime ‘kingpins’ in NSW

A shocking spate of fatal gun ‘atrocities’ is leading one Australian state to target crime bosses where it might hurt them most – their unexplained wealth.

With two people killed amid five shootings in the past week, and a drug-fuelled war between rival gangs, the NSW government is targeting the ill-gotten gains of senior organised crime figures.

‘We said we’d make every resource available to tackle organised crime on our streets, (this) does just that,’ Police Minster Yasmin Catley said on Sunday.

‘Senior members of organised crime gangs are on notice. The NSW Police Force and NSW Crime Commission will hunt you down, they will seize your assets and use that money to come after more of you.’ 

The Criminal Assets Confiscation Team will include forensic accountants, intelligence analysts and lawyers, who will work with specialist detectives from NSW Police’s Organised Crime Squad. 

With two people killed amid five shootings in the past week, and a drug-fuelled war between rival gangs, the NSW government is targeting the ill-gotten gains of senior organised crime figures. A NSW police officer is pictured

The team will identify and investigate senior members of criminal networks suspected to have profited from organised crime and conduct both criminal and financial investigations into them. 

It will have the powers to freeze assets and confiscate the proceeds of crime. 

Under legislation recently passed by the NSW Parliament, the onus now lies on an individual to prove to the court their wealth was gained through legitimate means. 

‘These crime bosses are highly skilled at hiding their wealth and many never face a court,’ Ms Catley said. 

‘(But) today’s announcement means we’ll confiscate their criminally acquired wealth anyway.’ 

More than $2million is being spent to establish the team, with ongoing funding of around $4million per year to run it after that.

The proceeds of confiscated items is set to further fund the team’s work.

‘With this new funding and the support of our law enforcement colleagues, we will seize the wealth that funds the terrible crimes we have been seeing in Sydney over the last two years,’ NSW Crime Commissioner, Michael Barnes.

‘The crime bosses don’t do the dirty work – they hide in their mansions and spend huge amounts buying stolen cars and illegal firearms and paying others to fire the bullets. 

‘Without access to their illicit drug derived wealth, they will not be able to fund these atrocities.’

The targeting of the proceeds of crime follows the NSW Police combining eight separate strike force investigations together into a single taskforce as it comes under increasing pressure to show it has not lost control of gun violence. 

Taskforce Magnus, which was announced last Thursday, will comprise 70 detectives, and will investigate the violence that followed the death of cocaine kingpin Alen Moradian (pictured) last month

The driver’s seat window of Alen Moradian’s car (pictured) was riddled with gunshots

Taskforce Magnus, which was announced last Thursday, will comprise 70 detectives, and will investigate the violence that followed the death of cocaine kingpin Alen Moradian last month. 

The recent spate of fatal shootings in Sydney are at odds with the plummeting homicide rate at both the state-level and in the national statistics, though.

The national homicide rate has fallen from 1.88 per 100,000 people between 1992 and 1993 to 0.82 per 100,000 people between 2020 and 2021 – a decrease of 55 per cent in 28 years.

Between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021, there were 210 homicide incidents and 221 murder victims in Australia, according to the latest report from the National Homicide Monitoring Program.