Crackdown on money laundering

In line with the arrangements made by the two sides, the first seizure of illegal Chinese assets in China would be carried out within the next couple of weeks, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported, adding that the operation was targeted at Chinese officials who had settled down in Australia with "hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit funds."

Getting cooperation from Sydney in the seizure of ill-gotten gains and the extradition of economic criminals would be a breakthrough for Chinese authorities.

The latter have been struggling to get their hands on suspects in Western nations whose governments have been reluctant to extradite Chinese citizens over fears they might not get fair trials back home.

Serious crackdown

The Sydney Morning Herald claimed Australia and China had already agreed on a priority list of alleged economic fugitives, among them naturalized citizens who had laundered money for years in the guise of genuine investments.

"As time goes on, they start to put their funds into legitimate assets such as houses and property and shares and bank accounts, and then the money becomes their wealth," Australian Federal Police commander Bruce Hill was quoted as saying. "But it's never been their money in the first place; it's the corrupt money flowing out of China."

Hill added the priority list was culled from a broader list of "less than a hundred people," and that the assets being pursued were "in the hundreds of millions of dollars."

hg/ng (Reuters, AFP)