Authorities targeting criminal wealth have frozen about $7.8 million in assets - including cars, bank accounts and seven houses - linked to three public servants who are accused of conspiring to defraud the federal government.
Abdul Aziz El-Debel, 47, Gopalakrishnan Suryanarayanan Vilayur, 50, and Raminder Singh Kahlon, 36, were charged in June following an 11-month police probe.
Police allege that in a two-year period starting in June 2018, the trio profited from a scheme to defraud the Department of Finance by directing IT contracts through preferred suppliers for their own financial gain.
A dollar figure has not yet been placed on the total value of the alleged fraud.
But an Australian Federal Police statement to be released on Wednesday reveals that some of the trio's allegedly ill-gotten wealth was used to buy and renovate residential properties in Canberra.
The statement says that after the men were arrested, the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce "restrained assets including seven houses, motor vehicles and bank accounts worth an estimated $7.8 million".
It is understood the homes, which are all in Canberra, account for about $5.6 million of the total assets frozen. The most expensive is a Griffith property valued at about $2 million.
The taskforce that froze the assets is led by the federal police. It also includes staff from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC, the Australian Border Force and the Australian Taxation Office.
The three accused men are due back in court on Thursday next week.
Mr El-Debel, of Griffith, is more commonly known by the name Alex. He has been described online as the chief architect and delivery lead for the Service Delivery Office at the Department of Finance.
Mr Vilayur, of Palmerston, has been listed as a Department of Finance program director.
They are both charged with conspiring to defraud the Commonwealth and abuse of public office, which carry a combined maximum penalty of 15 years in jail.
Mr Kahlon, of Barton, faces a single charge of conspiring to defraud the Commonwealth, which can carry a jail term of up to 10 years. His role in the public service is not known.
None of the three men have entered pleas.
They are all on strict bail, with conditions including that they must not contact each other, go to the Department of Finance office or access department computer systems.
When the men were charged, AFP deputy commissioner Ian McCartney said police were committed to identifying and prosecuting anyone who misused public money.
"Fraud is not a victimless crime and when public funds are used for personal gain, people are taking valuable funds away from essential services like hospitals and schools, impacting on all of us," he said.
On the same day, a spokeswoman for Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the minister expected anyone working in the public service to "act with the utmost honesty, integrity and probity".
With the matter before the courts, the spokeswoman would not comment on whether the police investigation had prompted the department to cancel or withdraw IT contracts it had previously awarded.
