Australian police have busted a sophisticated money-laundering ring worth as much as $70 million, which investigators say was led by 53-year-old Anya Phan, a self-proclaimed prophetess and “master of feng shui.” In a spectacular operation on Wednesday morning, Phan and her 25-year-old daughter Thi Ta were arrested in the luxury Dover Heights area in Sydney’s east.
Scammed clients with false prophecies about a “life-changing billionaire”
According to police allegations, Phan exploited vulnerable members of the Vietnamese community in Australia for years, persuading them to take out large financial loans based on her “prophetic visions”. She allegedly told her clients that a “billionaire” would soon appear in their lives who would bring them happiness and wealth – which, of course, never happened. Police allege that Phan kept much of the money from those loans for herself, and that the rest was funneled into a complex money-laundering network. The investigation showed that in some cases she took at least $150,000 from each “business opportunity” she allegedly predicted for her victims.
Seizure of luxury items and millions of assets
During a search of Phana’s mansion in Dover Heights, police seized financial documents, cell phones, electronic devices, luxury designer bags, as well as a 40-gram gold bar worth $10,000 and casino chips worth $6,600. In addition, the New South Wales (NSW) Crime Commission has frozen an additional $15 million worth of assets linked to Phan’s network.
NSW Police Financial Crime Squad Commander Detective Gordon Arbinja said Phan “knowingly manipulated people in dire financial straits”. “She presented herself as a feng shui master and prophetess who convinced vulnerable people to become ‘mullahs’ in her criminal ring. For each such transaction, she would keep at least $150,000 for herself,” Arbinja said.
Investigators say some of the defrauded customers were later arrested themselves for taking part in the transactions, although, according to police, they did not fully understand the extent of the criminal activity they were involved in.
Lived luxuriously, but received state aid
Phan, who moved to Australia in 2001, has never had a formal job, but has lived lavishly for years. Police found monthly payments on her Dover Heights home totaled as much as $56,000 while she received disability benefits for more than 20 years. Although she had no reported income, she was a VIP player at one of Sydney’s biggest casinos, where she laundered more than $520,000 in just two months. “On one of those visits to the casino, she laundered $45,000 in just three hours,” said Arbinja. “She even talked her daughter into buying a $5.3 million luxury condo in Rose Bay.”
Indictments: 39 counts against the mother, 4 against the daughter
Phan now faces 39 charges, including: running a criminal group, 19 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial benefit by fraud, and 13 counts of knowingly handling the proceeds of crime.
She was refused bail following her arrest and is due to appear in Downing Center court on January 15, 2025. Her daughter, Thi Ta, was charged with two counts of financial fraud and negligent handling of ill-gotten gains in excess of $5,000. She has been released on bail but must also appear in court in January.
The whole affair was uncovered as part of the Strike Force Myddleton investigation, which originally began as an investigation into fraud in the auto industry. Investigators then discovered that syndicate members were using stolen personal information to apply for loans from financial institutions – to buy luxury cars that never existed, so-called “ghost cars.”
Further investigation revealed that the network was much wider and included massive personal, business and home loan fraud, worth tens of millions of dollars. “What started as an investigation into car fraud turned into uncovering one of the most sophisticated financial crime cases I have ever seen,” said Detective Arbinja.
Police expect more arrests
Phan, according to police, took over the leadership of the crime ring after its previous leader ended up in court. The police claim that about half of the network’s members have been arrested so far, but the investigation continues. “We are also going after professional helpers – lawyers, accountants and some building developers,” Arbinja said, warning that properties bought with dirty money could have artificially inflated market prices, particularly in Sydney’s east.
According to the latest figures, 17 people have already been charged as part of Operation Myddleton, and the total value of assets frozen in connection with this case exceeds $60 million.
(TIP7Source: federalna.ba/The Guardian/Photo: NSW Police)
