Two Sydney-based ringleaders of a major Australian criminal syndicate have been stripped of more than $8.7 million in assets after being found guilty of orchestrating an elaborate gold bullion GST fraud.
The Supreme Court of New South Wales ordered the forfeiture of the assets—four luxury homes, over $2 million in bank accounts, $250,000 in cash, and five ounces of gold—to the Commonwealth following a complex, decade-long investigation by the Australian Federal Police-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT).
Codenamed Operation Nosean, the investigation began in 2012 after intelligence flagged unusually high volumes of pure gold bullion—specifically PAMP gold—being purchased in Sydney, alongside irregular GST refund claims by gold refiners in both Sydney and Melbourne.
Authorities soon uncovered a sophisticated “missing trader fraud” scheme exploiting a legal loophole in the GST treatment of gold. Criminals used foreign student identities to buy GST-exempt bullion, which they then melted down and sold as “scrap” gold via shell companies, claiming GST refunds fraudulently.
The scheme was active between 2012 and 2013 before the CACT intervened to freeze assets. In December 2023, two syndicate members—a 49-year-old man from Neutral Bay and a 57-year-old man from Ashfield—were sentenced to eight years’ jail (non-parole: four years and six months) for conspiring to dishonestly cause a loss to the Commonwealth.
In February 2025, CACT secured court orders to permanently confiscate their assets, capping years of forensic financial work.
“The nature of this crime was extremely intricate and took significant effort, time and commitment to untangle,” said CACT National Manager Stefan Jerga.
“Our message to criminals is clear—no matter how elaborate your system, we will find you, prosecute you, and seize your illicit wealth.”
ATO Deputy Commissioner John Ford added, “This result shows the consequences don’t end at conviction—it should be a strong deterrent to others.”
The gold bullion loophole was closed in 2017 through amendments to the GST Act, making it harder for fraudsters to claim tax credits on altered precious metals.
Since July 2019, the CACT has restrained more than $1.2 billion in criminal assets across Australia, from homes and cash to yachts, crypto, and fine art. Confiscated proceeds are reinvested into community programs targeting crime prevention and drug-related harm.
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