More than $580,000 has been forfeited to the Commonwealth as suspected proceeds of crime following an AFP-led investigation into an immigration visa fraud scheme linked to a Central Coast man, 61.
The Supreme Court of NSW ordered the forfeiture of $117,000 of those total funds on 1 June, 2026, after the man admitted they were proceeds of crimes he committed between about July, 2017, and May, 2020.
Those crimes included his role in providing false documents to a person exercising powers under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) in connection with visa applications for non-citizens to remain in Australia.
The man was sentenced in the NSW District Court on 18 December 2025 to four years' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two and a half years.
The forfeiture action stems from a complex, multi-agency investigation into the exploitation of Australia's immigration visa system and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme.
The investigation, led by the AFP and involving the Australian Border Force (ABF), the Department of Home Affairs, AUSTRAC and the Australian Taxation Office, identified significant financial benefits obtained through fraudulent activity.
Financial analysis conducted during the investigation identified hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to the suspected offending. This included payments to bank accounts associated with the man suspected to be for his services facilitating applications for immigration visas that contained false information. Some of these proceeds of crime payments were used to acquire other property.
The AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) took action to restrain and pursue the confiscation of these funds and tainted property on the basis they were reasonably suspected to be the proceeds of the man's offending.
The Commonwealth's strong proceeds of crime laws allow authorities to confiscate criminal assets under a civil standard of proof and can operate independently of any criminal conviction.
A total of $583,146.44 has now been forfeited to the Commonwealth.
These funds will be placed into the Confiscated Assets Account, where they can be redistributed to support crime prevention initiatives, law enforcement capabilities, and programs that benefit the Australian community.
AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Colin Hunt said depriving persons of the proceeds of crime and benefits derived from offences against the laws of the Commonwealth was fundamental to the work of the CACT.
"People who defraud the Commonwealth are directly attacking the integrity of Australia's social and financial systems," Det a/Supt Hunt said.
"Removing unlawfully obtained property is also critical to disrupting and deterring criminal behaviour and preventing further harm to the community.
"The AFP and its partners will continue to identify, restrain and confiscate proceeds of unlawful activity to ensure crime does not pay."
The AFP-led CACT brings together the resources and expertise of multiple agencies to trace, restrain, and pursue the confiscation of criminal assets.
Since July 2019, CACT has restrained more than $1.3 billion in criminal assets, including houses, cars, fine art, and luxury yachts.
