Queensland man forfeits $4.5 million in assets - despite not being charged

A Queensland man has forfeited more than $4.5 million worth of assets including a waterfront mansion, a luxury car, and Bitcoin, after they were identified as suspected proceeds of crime.

An investigation by the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) began in September 2018 after authorities were notified by Luxembourg law enforcement about suspicious Bitcoin transactions.

The transactions were linked to a Queensland man previously convicted of hacking a gaming company in the US.

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The investigation identified suspected links between the man and the theft of 950 Bitcoin from a French cryptocurrency exchange in 2013.

There were no criminal charges laid, however, national proceeds of crime laws allow the CACT to keep suspected proceeds of crime regardless of whether there is a related prosecution.

Last month, the District Court of Queensland ordered the man's assets to be forfeited to the Commonwealth.

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Since July 2023, the CACT obtained restraining orders over the waterfront home, a 2019 black Mercedes-Benz sedan, and 24.99454224 Bitcoin, saying it was reasonable to suspect they were proceeds of crime.

The CACT said the assets were not commensurate to the man's identifiable legitimate earnings.

They are estimated to be worth more than $4.5 million, with the Bitcoin worth more than $4 million of that.

Revenue from their sale will be put into a fund that supports crime prevention and law enforcement measures.

Since July 2019, the CACT has restrained more than $1.2 billion in criminal assets, including houses, cars, yachts, cryptocurrency, fine art, and luxury goods.

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