Another charge has been laid against a man who was arrested after an international investigation and accused of amassing an illegal fortune in the ACT.
Karan Talwar, 35, was arrested in late July. Authorities have restrained suspected criminal assets valued at more than $10 million. The Australian Federal Police accuse him of illegally accumulating eight Canberra properties, four luxury cars worth more than $800,000, 28 bank accounts and about $600,000 in cryptocurrencies.
The defendant is accused of using sophisticated transactions to launder cash and cryptocurrency from the sale of stolen personal identification information, illegal goods and the proceeds from fraudulent scams and illegal online gambling.
Talwar's arrest came after investigators raided two homes and a storage unit in Canberra as part of an international money laundering investigation that involved Australian and US agencies.
Police seized more than $1.5 million in cash from one house and a number of documents and electronic devices.
Talwar was already facing three counts of dealing with property reasonably suspected of being the proceeds of crime - including two involving $1 million or more - when he appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday.
During his latest appearance, he faced a new charge, which is that he allegedly engaged in conduct to conceal or disguise crime proceeds being money or property.
A lawyer, Rachel Fisher, entered not guilty pleas to all charges on his behalf.
Ms Fisher sought to excuse the defendant, who is on bail, on the next occasion.
A prosecutor opposed that, saying "these are very serious charges" and "he should answer his bail".
Magistrate Louise Taylor ruled in favour of the defence lawyer after questioning the prosecutor if Talwar had breached bail to which the answer was no.
Ms Taylor allowed Talwar to be excused next time if he were legally represented. However, he would need to appear if there were to be a committal process.
The case is set to return to the Magistrates Court on November 25.
The restraint was conducted by the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce, which brings together resources and expertise of various national agencies, including the AFP, ATO, and Border Force.
The investigation, Operation Nairana, began in late 2020 when the FBI and the US Internal Revenue Service, as part of the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, reported an Australian-based person was allegedly using cryptocurrency to launder money.
AUSTRAC provided support to the initial stages of the investigation, identifying relevant financial data.
