Australian authorities have uncovered a sprawling crypto laundering operation worth $123 million USD (AU$190 million), hidden behind a seemingly legitimate cash-in-transit security company. Following an 18-month investigation, the Australian Federal Police (AFP), in collaboration with state agencies, have charged four individuals and frozen over AU$20 million ($13.6 million USD) in suspected criminal assets.
This case shines a spotlight on how digital assets, while revolutionary in many ways, are increasingly being exploited by organised criminals, blending traditional financial methods with advanced blockchain tactics to mask illegal activity.
Multi-Agency Crackdown Uncovers Criminal Web
The investigation was led by the Queensland Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (QJOCT), involving 70 officers from various federal and state-level law enforcement bodies. It began in December 2023, when suspicious transaction patterns linked to a single suspect drew attention.

Authorities discovered that this individual had laundered AU$14.5 million ($9.5 million USD) over a 15-month period. These financial trails led investigators to an extensive operation hiding in plain sight within the framework of a legitimate security company operating armoured vehicles for cash transportation.
The business allegedly mixed illicit cash deposits from criminals with clean business revenues, making the illegal funds indistinguishable from legitimate income.
Shell Companies and Crypto Used to Obscure Funds
The laundered funds didn’t stop at the security firm. They were reportedly moved through a web of front companies, including a sales promotion business and a classic car dealership, before ultimately reaching cryptocurrency exchanges.
This complex layering allowed the perpetrators to convert dirty cash into digital assets, where the trail becomes harder to follow. Once in crypto, the funds were distributed to beneficiaries either as tokens or routed through the aforementioned shell businesses to re-enter the traditional financial system.
The AFP stated that the laundering scheme took advantage of the pseudonymous and decentralised nature of blockchain to blur the lines between legal and illegal financial flows.
Tool for Both Crime and Justice
While crypto’s decentralised nature provides an opportunity for criminals to hide funds, the transparency of blockchain also allows law enforcement to trace illicit activity, if the right tools and expertise are in place.

Data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reveals that over $100 billion in crypto flowed from illicit wallets to conversion services between 2019 and mid-2024. Criminals increasingly use mixers, cross-chain bridges, and DeFi protocols to conceal their transactions, but advances in blockchain forensics continue to give investigators an upper hand.
This Australian case reinforces the point: digital currencies may offer anonymity, but they also leave an immutable trace.
Real-World Consequences of Crypto Crime
Beyond financial fraud, crypto-related crime is increasingly spilling into the physical world. Criminals are resorting to kidnappings, intimidation, and violence to seize or protect digital assets.
Recently, Moroccan authorities arrested Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou, accused of orchestrating multiple kidnappings tied to crypto, including an attempted abduction of the daughter and grandson of Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat in Paris.
In another case, Ledger co-founder David Balland was kidnapped from his home in France and held hostage for over 24 hours, before police intervened. These incidents show that the digital nature of crypto doesn’t eliminate real-world risk, it may heighten it.
Even crypto influencers are taking drastic steps. The so-called “Bitcoin Family”, a Dutch group living solely on Bitcoin since 2017, recently split their crypto seed phrase across four continents and encrypted it using custom methods to deter theft and ransom threats.
The $123 million laundering bust in Australia is a stark reminder that crypto crime is evolving, blending traditional methods with decentralised digital assets. While blockchain technology offers both opportunity and transparency, it also challenges law enforcement with its technical complexity.