When the Dust Settles, Who’s Left Holding the Deed? How Conveyancers Are Supposed to Catch This Is Anyone’s Guess

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As a conveyancer, how are we supposed to catch this?

The latest reports out of Queensland are enough to make any diligent property professional uneasy. Over $21 million in property and assets have been seized, including 17 Gold Coast properties, high-end cars, crypto wallets, and mountains of evidence pointing to one of the most sophisticated money laundering operations in recent Australian history.

The kicker? These weren’t cash-only transactions in dark alleyways. These were banked, settled, and registered transfers—some of which could have passed through the hands of everyday conveyancers like us.

How deep does the rabbit hole go?

According to the Australian Federal Police and the multi-agency Joint Organised Crime Taskforce, the laundering operation ran for at least 18 months. It used the armoured transport unit of a Gold Coast-based security company to move and mix legitimate business takings with illicit cash. From there, the money passed through a web of promotional businesses, car dealerships, and cryptocurrency exchanges before reappearing as ‘clean’ money in the accounts of carefully placed corporate fronts.

One company director even used their spouse as a straw director to shield themselves from detection.

When money is flowing through a classic car dealership one month, a crypto wallet the next, and into a property trust after that—how is a conveyancer, operating under standard due diligence processes, meant to detect the taint?

Why this matters for conveyancers—urgently

We’ve known AML reforms were coming. The government has already flagged that the so-called "Tranche 2" reforms—those targeting lawyers, conveyancers, and real estate professionals—are no longer just theoretical. They’re coming, and fast.

But what these latest events reveal is just how ill-equipped the average practitioner is to detect this level of deception. This isn’t about ticking boxes on an ID form or checking a bank cheque. It’s about dealing with an ever-increasing burden of responsibility in an environment of growing risk.

The scheme reads like a thriller. The risk lands on our desks.

  • Cash drops flown in as domestic cargo

  • Crypto converted in bulk from physical takings

  • Shell companies and proxy directors shielding the real players

  • Seven bank accounts opened across institutions to fragment and obscure the money trail

If AUSTRAC, the ATO, the AFP, and the QLD Police need 18 months and dozens of search warrants to unravel this—what hope does a conveyancer working to a 30-day settlement timeline have?

Where to from here?

What’s becoming clear is that the property industry can’t afford to ignore the implications. At Victorian Property Settlements, we’re watching these developments closely. We take AML compliance seriously. But the framework needs to catch up with the complexity we’re facing on the ground.

We’re not law enforcement. We’re not forensic accountants. But we are the ones handling millions in property transfers every week—and that makes us gatekeepers whether we like it or not.

With AUSTRAC and the federal government bearing down on professional service providers to tighten AML obligations, we must ask—will the new rules help, or just push the liability downhill?

Victorian Property Settlements – Trusted for over 25 years by Victorian buyers and sellers.
Visit: www.victorianpropertysettlements.com.au