Australian law enforcement arrested an unnamed 38-year-old Australian man for performing unregistered cryptocurrency transactions.
The police department of Victoria announced on Nov. 12 that the man has been arrested at his address in the town of Cairnlea. The joint report from the Victoria Police and Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) reads:
“Detectives from the E-Crime Squad have arrested a man today as part of an investigation into unregistered cryptocurrency transactions.”
Money laundering accusations
The Cairnlea resident is accused of violation of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act of 2006 for providing an unregistered crypto exchange service and the Criminal Code Act 1995 for dealing with property suspected of being proceeds of crime.
During the arrest, law enforcement found a substantial quantity of cash and false identification documents, which were seized along with a cryptocurrency ATM from a shopping center in Braybrook.
The investigation was initiated by reports of scam activity linked to the ATM provided to the police by AUSTRAC. This collaboration between the two agencies is one of the first actions by the E-Crime Squad that was related to cryptocurrencies.
AUSTRAC’s national manager of intelligence operations, David Hawkins, said that the outcome of the investigation underscores the importance of collaboration between AUSTRAC and law enforcement.
As Cointelegraph reported in late October, Ivan Manuel Molina Lee, the president of controversial Panama-based payments processor Crypto Capital, tied to Bitfinex and other major cryptocurrency exchanges, was arrested by Polish authorities under money laundering accusations.