Australian federal police said in a statement that it has seized several assets allegedly linked to a hack. The statement dated May 18th said the assets seized include a waterfront mansion, 25 BTC, and a car. The forfeiture includes more than $4.5 million in assets.
The relevant CACT—Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce—investigation began in September 2018. This was after AUSTRAC was contacted by law enforcement partners regarding suspicious Bitcoin activity, all linked to a Queensland person who was convicted of hacking a gaming company in the U.S.
Another link was identified as well, between the same person and the theft of 950 bitcoins from a cryptocurrency exchange in France. While there are no charges yet, CACT is allowed to seize proceeds from suspected criminals regardless of whether there is a prosecution at hand.
“The Proceeds of Crime Act provides law enforcement agencies with unique powers to restrain and forfeit instruments and proceeds of crime,” said AFP Commander Kennedy.
“Criminals are driven by greed at the expense of honest Australians and businesses who are losing their hard-earned money to cyber criminals. The profits derived from criminal activities are also often used to fund further criminal acts, which is why the AFP works closely with our partners in the CACT to target the proceeds of crime and ensure they are re-invested in the community,” Kennedy added.