A 53-year-old woman who claimed to be a fortune teller and feng shui master, and her 25-year-old daughter, have been charged over an alleged A$70m (US$46m; £35m) fraud targeting “vulnerable” Vietnamese Australians.
The pair were arrested on Wednesday during a dawn raid at their multi-million-dollar home in the affluent Sydney suburb of Dover Heights. New South Wales Police allege they were key players in a “highly sophisticated” fraud and money laundering syndicate.
Investigators say the mother exploited her status as a trusted community figure, offering spiritual readings to clients who often disclosed serious financial difficulties. She allegedly told some that a billionaire benefactor would soon transform their fortunes – but only if they took out substantial loans. Police say she then kept a portion of those funds for herself.
The mother has been refused bail and is due to appear in court on Thursday. She faces 39 charges, including directing the activities of a criminal group and dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
Her daughter, granted bail with a court date set for January, has been charged with seven offences, among them recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime and participating in a criminal group.
During Wednesday’s operation, police seized financial records, mobile phones, luxury handbags, A$6,600 in casino chips and a 40-gram gold bar valued at about A$10,000. Officers also froze around A$15m in assets, adding to A$60m already restrained as part of a broader investigation that began last year.
That probe — Strike Force Myddleton — initially focused on a scheme involving “ghost cars”, in which stolen identities were allegedly used to obtain loans for luxury vehicles that did not exist. Detectives now believe they have uncovered a vast financial crime network involved in large-scale personal, business and home loan fraud against multiple institutions.
According to reporting by the Sydney Morning Herald, the mother-and-daughter pair are linked to what has been dubbed the “Penthouse Syndicate”, named after an alleged ringleader who lived in an A$18m Sydney penthouse. Police suspect the group may have defrauded major Australian banks of up to A$250m, with help from corrupt insiders allegedly approving fraudulent loans.
More than a dozen people have already been arrested over the wider scheme, facing charges including fraud and money laundering. Police say further arrests are expected, with investigators now turning their attention to “professional facilitators” such as lawyers, accountants and property developers believed to have assisted the syndicate.
