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The AFP has arrested a New South Wales man for distributing an Aussie-designed criminal messaging platform and seized more than $9m from network mastermind.
The fallout from the AFP’s Operation Kraken continues, with the law enforcement agency announcing the restraining of $9.3 million in cryptocurrency from a New South Wales man arrested last month for his alleged role in the development and administration of the Ghost criminal messaging platform.
According to the AFP, an analytics specialist with the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce was able to decipher the seed phrase that secured the account after analysing devices seized from the man’s Narwee home on September 17.
The cryptocurrency is now in “secure AFP cryptocurrency storage”.
“The restraint of these assets shows the technical capabilities and powers that the AFP, and our partners through the CACT, are able to bring to bear on organised crime,” AFP acting Commander Scott Raven said in a statement.
“Whether you have tried to hide them in real estate, cryptocurrency or cash, we will identify your ill-gotten goods and take them away from you, leaving you with nothing.”
The CACT is a multi-agency taskforce comprising the AFP, Australian Taxation Office, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, AUSTRAC and Australian Border Force.
The AFP has also revealed it arrested and charged a second man on September 17 for his role in the distribution of the Ghost devices as part of Operation Kraken-Bespin.
The 47-year-old man was arrested at his Greenacre home, where police seized eight mobile phones – including two alleged Ghost devices – 23 SIM cards, three laptops, and 15 other “communication devices and encrypted USBs,” and $17,400 in cash.
The AFP believe the man was an alleged “close associate” of Ghost’s mastermind, and delivered the encrypted devices via dead drop collection to buyers.
The Greenacre man was granted bail by the Downing Centre Local Court on September 18, and is charged with one count of failing to comply with an order and one count of possessing a dedicated encrypted criminal communication device to facilitate serious criminal activity.
The man appeared again yesterday on October 2.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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