A former Queensland fraud squad detective allegedly teamed up with prominent underworld figures in a scheme to launder $15m in proceeds from “boiler room” scams on the Gold Coast.
Arrest warrants have been issued for a member of the Mongols bikie gang, Nick “the Knife” Forbes, and a gang associate to face money laundering charges, along with the former police officer Michael Featherstone, Guardian Australia can reveal.
Both Forbes and the other man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are in custody interstate but will face extradition and formal charges on their release.
Investigators in the major investigation of cold-call investment fraud on the Gold Coast by the Crime and Corruption Commission and Queensland police also suspect the involvement of a prominent lawyer and former director of an ASX-listed company in one scam. But no charges have been forthcoming.
Cold-calling refers to the practice of luring victims into bogus investments by targeting them in unsolicited phone calls. The investigation into the scheme allegedly involving Featherstone was part of a broader long-term investigation by the CCC of cold-call scams on the Gold Coast, which is said to have become the capital of organised fraud in Australia.
Forbes and the other man are alleged to have received money for the purposes of “washing” profits from an organised cold-call investment fraud, a senior police source said.
Featherstone was charged in February with aggravated fraud and laundering. Police alleged he had laundered $15m between 2010 and 2013 while providing “risk management” services and handling customer complaints against companies running cold-call investment frauds.
His wife, Zoei Keong, was charged with fraud and money laundering in April last year over her alleged role in defrauding investors of more than $700,000 while working for Featherstone’s private investigation business in 2011.
Keong and another of Featherstone’s employees were alleged to have committed the offences as part of the financial management of a company called Tropical Point.
