WA man stripped of boat in ‘unexplained wealth’ investigation
Bayliner fishing boat seized in crackdown on man with “no legitimate source of income”A West Australian man has lost his Bayliner fishing boat and a range-topping Toyota LandCruiser Sahara used to pull it after the WA Supreme Court ruled he could not have legitimately earned the money used to buy them.
Australian Federal Police announced yesterday that the court stripped the 39-year-old-man, believed to have links to Perth’s organised crime networks and outlawed motorcycle gangs, of about $1 million worth of assets including land, vehicles, motorbikes, a fishing boat and cash in the wake of an unexplained wealth investigation.
“The AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) launched Operation Enguri in May 2016 over suspicions the WA man had no legitimate source of income, but owned two properties, vehicles and a boat, and was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on his lifestyle,” the AFP said in a statement.
“After an extensive investigation, and civil court proceedings led by the CACT’s litigators, the overwhelming evidence presented to the man and his legal representatives was such that he agreed to forfeit his assets to the Commonwealth. Court orders were obtained on October 23, 2020.”
Financial activities
Police said Operation Enguri included assessments of the man’s financial activities, as well as those of his relatives and associates.
“Investigations revealed the man had a trust structure set up in a bid to hide his assets and was using family members and other associates to make funds appear legitimate,” it said.
“Between mid-2010 and early 2017 the man’s assets were valued in the millions. Yet he declared a total taxable income between 2010 and 2016 of just $140,502.”
The investigation included raids at a number of homes and businesses in May 2017 that turned up assets including three black Harley-Davidson motorcycles, a boat believed to be a Bayliner 2502 Trophy Pro Walkaround fishing boat and trailer, two Toyota LandCruisers and almost $80,000 in cash.
The AFP said the man’s assets would now be sold, with the proceeds going to the Federal Government to help support crime prevention, law enforcement and “other community initiatives”.
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