A report published on 20 August 2021 headlines;
"Record Australian cryptocurrency seizure"
From which this sentence warrants discussion;
This is the 21st-century version of drug trafficking and money laundering, with criminals using technology to enable immense amounts of community harm and misery.
A conclusion is at the bottom of this post.
This discussion attempts to compare with actual reality.
1st point of discussion;
Drug trafficking...to enable immense amounts of community harm and misery.
Here’s what the police reported they found;
A number of items were seized from the addresses including drugs believed to be cannabis, Psilocin (magic mushrooms), MDMA, prescription medication and white powder and crystals.
Since no formal identification of these items
prescription medication and white powder and crystals
were given, we can assume they were not illegal. If it were Cocaine, Meth or Meth Crystals then it would have stated so.
A study published in THE LANCET By Prof. David Nutt on 1 November 2010, identifies harm caused by common drugs.
The following table summarizes his findings.
So yes, it is an offence to sell substances that are less harmful than Alcohol or Tobacco.
Information from the World Health Organisation website re Alcohol and Tobacco;
2nd point of discussion;
“ criminals using technology”
Whatever anybody uses, it is only to facilitate the transfer of money, cash, greenbacks.
3rd and final point of discussion;
“money laundering”
Let’s start with this little gem.
The (leaked) FinCEN files. Read Buzzfeed’s articles;
“Dirty money pours into the world’s most powerful banks.”
And here
TLDR;
A huge trove of secret government documents reveals for the first time how the giants of Western banking move trillions of dollars in suspicious transactions, enriching themselves and their shareholders while facilitating the work of terrorists, kleptocrats, and drug kingpins.
And the US government, despite its vast powers, fails to stop it.
A table of summary;
But what about Australia? A google search shows this;
24,000,000 results!
Let’s start with the Reserve Bank of Australia, article;
"Seven years and millions of dollars later, Australia's biggest bribery prosecution finally revealed."
Taken from the article;
These historic guilty pleas had the companies hit with a record Australian proceeds of crime penalty of $21.6 million. Despite the guilty plea and massive fine, no directors of Securency or NPA – which included former senior RBA officials – were ever investigated by Australia's corporate regulator ASIC for alleged breaches of the Corporations Act.
And follow on with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia article 1;
“Corrupt CBA Bank Executive Jailed”
TLDR;
.... a former senior technology executive at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for bribery offences….
....after he and another CBA colleague allegedly received a combined total of $2.9 million in bribes.
And CBA article 2;
“The dark side of the Commonwealth Bank Part 1”
TLDR;
"...the CBA has been engaged in fraudulent and unconscionable practices perennially over ... [the last] 30 years.”
And just to show it's still happening, article 3;
“NAB, CBA face money laundering probe” article dated 16 June 2021;
I can only quote the first ‘free’ paragraph from https://www.afr.com;
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank are again under scrutiny for their compliance with anti-money laundering laws, after an investigation into one of their partners is set to result in sanctions being imposed in Papua New Guinea.
Conclusion;
The point is that the main Police article misleads the public by publishing FUD, Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.
