White Collar Crime

Money Laundering

Money laundering is essentially dealing with the proceeds of crime. Both the State and Commonwealth have legislation designed to prevent this from occurring.

The offence of money laundering under state law is governed by section 193B of the Crimes Act 1900. Under this act, a person who deals with the proceeds of crime knowing that it is proceeds of crime, and intending to conceal that it is proceeds is guilty of an offence.

Money laundering charges are complex under both the State and Commonwealth law. There is a gradation in the seriousness of the offence based on how much money is involved and what level of knowledge the Crown will be able to establish the accused had. It is possible to be charged with the least serious money-laundering offences based purely on being negligent.

The Crown often couples charges like this with asset seizure and preservation orders under either NSW law or the Proceeds of Crime Act (Cth). These are powerful pieces of legislation which can severely affect your livelihood.

Insider Trading
It is an offence under division 3 of the Corporations Act 2001 to trade using inside information, or communicate inside information to others who will, or are likely to, trade on the inside information.

The prosecution must prove:

  • That you possess information which is likely to have a material effect on the value of a particular financial product that is able to be traded on a financial market.
  • That you know (or ought reasonably know) that the information is not generally available
  • That you (or your agent) trade in that particular financial product; or you tell someone else about the information knowing that that the other person will trade in the product.

Financial products are broadly defined under Division 3 of the Corporations Act and importantly contain all securities able to be traded on a financial market.

The prosecution does not require proof that you knew the information was not available and may have a material effect, it merely requires that a reasonable person would have that belief.

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