- Operation Fuji recovers assets including Rolex watches, Cartier jewellery, and $500,000 in fine Australian art.
- A luxury yacht worth $800,000 and 11 Melbourne properties valued at over $8.7 million forfeited.
- Crime syndicate leader George Marrogi was sentenced to 22 years for attempting to smuggle drugs.
Crime, as they say, doesn’t pay — but it does buy an $800,000 yacht and some serious fine art; that is, before the authorities come knocking. In a major crackdown the Australian Federal Police (AFP), in collaboration with Victoria Police and the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT), has stripped a Middle Eastern crime syndicate of over $11 million AUD in luxury assets, marking another major victory under Operation Fuji.
The syndicate was led by George Marrogi, who was already serving a 22-year prison sentence for attempting to import 400 kilograms of illegal drugs while behind bars in Victoria’s Barwon Prison.
Marrogi had been raking in millions through drug smuggling and illicit financial networks. But the crime boss’ burgeoning empire is crumbling — first with his prison sentence, and now with the AFP’s operation that seized high-value assets, including luxury items, valuable properties, and rare artworks that were believed to have been funded by criminal acts.
A Haul of Luxury and Art
The assets recovered in the operation include a luxurious yacht which has a value of $800,000, a collection of Rolex and Cartier timepieces worth over $75,000, and 11 luxury properties across Melbourne’s elite suburbs, including Mickleham, Malvern East, Essendon, and Moonee Ponds. The real estate alone is worth more than $8.7 million.
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But the most interesting part of the list is a collection of five original Australian paintings, valued at $500,000, that feature heavyweights like Brett Whiteley, Ben Quilty, and Adam Cullen. Among the paintings is a portrait of outlaw icon Ned Kelly by Cullen which fetched over $67,000 and an erotic sketch page by Whiteley.
The operation also found high-end jewelry and watches, including Rolex timepieces and Cartier bracelets which are worth more than $75,000. A total of $450,000 in investment funds that were linked to a trust unit scheme were also frozen as part of the operation to make sure that not even the syndicate’s financial safety nets remained intact.
Sending a Clear Message
Detective Superintendent Scott Raven of the AFP made it clear that the days of criminals enjoying their ill-gotten wealth are numbered by saying: “The CACT’s investigators, forensic accountants, and litigation lawyers will ensure people justify how they accumulate their wealth and target any assets that are not linked to lawful sources.”
Since July 2019, the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce has seized over $1.2 billion in criminal assets — proof that law enforcement is serious about making organized crime far less profitable. Many of the seized items, including three of the five paintings, have already been sold by the Commonwealth’s Official Trustee, with proceeds going toward crime prevention and law enforcement initiatives.
