ACT Policing has shut down a Belconnen tattoo parlour for allegedly laundering money for bikie gang members.
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It is the first time ACT Policing has restrained a business under confiscation of criminal assets legislation.
The Lakeside Tattoo Parlour was shut down by police earlier this month after the arrest of Jirawat Marrotnok McCallum, 31, of Gungahlin, on money laundering charges.
Mr McCallum was identified by police as the road captain of the Canberra Comanchero gang.
After the arrest, police launched action in the ACT Supreme Court to have the business restrained based on the money laundering allegations.
The court granted approval and police officers took hold of the property, changed the locks and ceased business.
Once the court process is complete, the business and all associated assets could be forfeited to the territory and then sold.
Court documents in the matter of Mr McCallum allege he paid $30,000 to the director of the Lakeside Tattoo Parlour and then continued to receive payments from the business, despite not being a tattoo artist nor an employee of the parlour.
He remains in custody and will return to court at a later date.
Police allege the tattoo parlour was being used to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking.
Detective Superintendent Scott Moller said the result was a major hit to organised crime in the territory.
"We know the main driver for organised criminal activity is money and, that being the case, we will do everything we can to restrict and restrain assets derived from organised criminal activity," Detective Superintendent Moller said.
He said, at this stage, no other businesses had been identified as a front for criminal activity, but police would continue searching for more.
He said criminal gangs would use any business they can move cash through, not necessarily tattoo parlours.
He added it was unfortunate for contractors at Lakeside Tattoo Parlour that were working there legitimately.
"But we're certainly not going to sit here and watch an organised criminal gang launder cash through a business in Canberra," he said.
Minister for Police Mick Gentleman said funding was provided for two forensic accountants that had helped secure the seizure and said it sent a strong message to criminal gangs.
"ACT Policing will work to shut down your activities and cut off your ill-gotten gains," Mr Gentleman said.
"If you are a member or associate of an organised crime group, you will be targeted by police and likely find yourself in prison."
ACT Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay said the seizure demonstrated how the territory's laws were disrupting criminal gangs and helping to bring them to justice.
"The government's thorough legal framework designed to dismantle and tackle organised crime through the confiscation of criminal assets is clearly working," Mr Ramsay said.
"These measures will continue to disrupt organised crime groups by preventing their capacity to invest illegally obtained funds into what appear to be legitimate businesses."
He added that there was no evidence anti-consorting laws would tackle criminal gangs better than what the territory had in place.
"We will be delivering on legislative vehicles that work, and when you look around Australia it's very clear that anti-consorting laws haven't been working in the jurisdictions that have them to stop organised crime," he said.
Should the business become the property of the territory by order of the court Mr Ramsay said the funds from selling it would be reinvested into the prevention of crime in the ACT.
Previous examples he pointed to of confiscated criminal assets helping the community were funding for the therapeutic care court and grants to improve women's safety.
Police suggested any customers of Lakeside Tattoo Parlour who had paid deposits to contact the individual tattooist who were understood to be seeking employment elsewhere.
A Facebook post by Canberra Tattoo Studio said customers of Lakeside could contact the page through a direct message and tattooists who "were not involved in recent events leading to [the] closure" would work to reopen soon.
