The Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australia's principal law enforcement agency, has opened a new unit that is specifically focused on tackling cryptocurrency-related criminal activities, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review.
Stefan Jerga, the man who is in charge of the confiscation of criminal assets at the agency, claims that there has been a significant uptick in the number of cryptocurrency-related crimes. Globally, it is reported there has been in excess of 10 billion dollars lost via hacks, scams or stolen from exchanges and DeFi platforms in the last few years alone.
This is primarily the reason the AFP decided to set up a dedicated team. In August, Australian authorities confiscated millions of dollars worth of crypto and other assets in Canberra after investigating a major money laundering case. They were assisted by their American counterparts within the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (the "J5"). The AFP's criminal confiscation command, which was established back in 2020, has managed to confiscate $600 million, which is far ahead of schedule.
The task force was originally supposed to reach that target by 2025. The AFP has so far confiscated $35 million in boats, aircraft, artwork and crypto. Stefan Jerga says that the new dedicated team will continue to grow in the future. Australia's DeFi landscape has grown substantially in the last year with projects being built on the various blockchains. As the industry grows in size, so too does the potential risks. The move by the AFP is a further step in the regulation and enforcement of cryptocurrencies in Australia.
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