More than $580,000 has been taken by the Australian government after a Federal Police-led investigation into an alleged visa fraud operation involving a 61-year-old man from New South Wales’ Central Coast.
The case was part of a broader, multi-agency probe into suspected misuse of Australia’s immigration system, including the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme.
The Australian Federal Police worked alongside the Australian Border Force, the Department of Home Affairs, AUSTRAC, and the Australian Taxation Office.
Investigators allege the man benefited financially by helping submit visa applications containing false information.
Authorities traced hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing into bank accounts connected to him, believed to be payments for facilitating fraudulent applications.
Some of this money was reportedly used to buy other assets, which led the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce to freeze and seize the proceeds.
On 1 June 2026, the Supreme Court of New South Wales ordered the forfeiture of $117,000 after the man admitted the funds came from offences committed between July 2017 and May 2020. These offences included supplying false documents to officials handling visa applications under the Migration Act.
He was earlier sentenced in December 2025 in the NSW District Court to four years in prison, with a minimum non-parole period of two and a half years.
In total, $583,146.44 has now been confiscated and transferred to the Commonwealth.
The money will go into Australia’s Confiscated Assets Account and may be used for crime prevention programs, law enforcement resources, and community initiatives.
The AFP said targeting criminal profits is essential to disrupting serious and organised crime, and confirmed it will continue pursuing illegal proceeds to ensure crime does not pay.