A lawyer and an accountant have been arrested by police after a series of raids across Canberra and Queanbeyan.
ACT police arrested a 47-year-old man during a raid at a law firm in Civic on Wednesday. A second person, a 54-year-old man allegedly associated with the lawyer, was also arrested following further raids conducted at a Kingston accountancy business, a grocery store in Queanbeyan and a location in Farrer.
Police allege the men were facilitating organised crime and had met on a number of occasions. It is alleged they discussed how to draft legal contracts and agreements, which could be used to buy a business in order to undertake money laundering of criminal funds.
"The men will be charged with offences associated with money laundering," police said in a statement.
Police later confirmed that a 35-year-old woman was also arrested in Civic on Wednesday afternoon as part of the investigation. The woman was a close associate of the 47-year-old man and a member of the legal community, police said.
Detective Superintendent Scott Moller said the arrests followed an eight-month investigation into organised crime in the ACT and surrounding areas.
He would not confirm if the alleged criminal activities were connected to bikie gangs.
Both men are yet to be formally charged.
"This is a fantastic result for ACT Policing," Detective Superintendent Moller said.
"The organised crime landscape in Canberra is continuing to evolve [and] criminal activities are becoming increasingly obscure through new technologies and sophisticated methods.
"As ACT Policing looks to follow money from organised crime, we must also find the professional facilitators."
He said some involved in organised crimes lacked the necessary skills to carry out their crimes, so enlisted professional facilitators "in particular areas like the financial and legal sector".
"ACT Policing will target anyone who engages in illegal activity to help criminals retain and legitimise proceeds of crime," he said.
"Over the last couple of years, we've seen seized tattoo parlours, houses, cars; we're doing everything we can to reduce the [ability] for [those involved in] organised crime to legitimise their earnings."
Detective Superintendent Moller said he expected further arrests and more charges would be laid.
"This was a highly sensitive eight-month investigation that targeted covert business practices and services that allowed criminals to commit further crime and hide assets within our community," he said.
"My message today would be if you are a professional facilitator for organised crime, we will come looking for you.
"We will not stop until we can put a halt to organised crime activity."
He also confirmed police seized a large number of documents in the raids of the multiple properties.
Police asked anyone with information that could help their investigation to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website and quote reference 6695673. Information can be provided anonymously.
