ACT Court of Appeal unmasks Grace Zhang as woman suspected of running illegal brothels

On Tuesday, nearly three years after the March 2020 discovery, the ACT Court of Appeal published a judgement that names the woman as Grace Zhang.

Ms Zhang's identity had been the subject of a non-publication order, which was made during what police have described as the ACT's largest-ever restraint of criminal assets case.

It all began when members of the public alerted police to a suspicious number of people coming and going from a Civic apartment while COVID-19 restrictions were in force.

After general duties officers from ACT Policing discovered the unit was being used as an illegal brothel, detectives launched Operation Goeben and linked the address to several similar venues and luxury properties across the ACT, NSW and Queensland.

Prosecutors successfully applied, on behalf of police, to the ACT Supreme Court in 2021 for orders restraining, or effectively freezing, more than $10 million worth of suspected criminal assets.

These included the luxury properties, which police alleged were purchased with the proceeds of crime.

The assets were owned by five people, including Ms Zhang, and her company, Amazing Grace Yan Pty Ltd.

The other four people's names cannot legally be published, but the allegedly tainted property they owned was believed to be under the effective control of Ms Zhang.

In September 2021, the civil case against Ms Zhang was resolved without the woman admitting any criminal wrongdoing.

She consented to orders requiring her to forfeit her interests in an ACT property, plus $2.25 million in unexplained wealth, to the territory government.

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During the large-scale civil case, the office of the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed it would not pursue criminal charges against Ms Zhang.

If a criminal case had still been on the cards, publication of her name in connection with the civil proceedings may have prejudiced her right to a fair trial.

When ACT Policing first revealed Operation Goeben to the public, Detective Superintendent Scott Moller said the confiscation of criminal assets was "an effective tool to assist in the prevention and disruption of serious and organised crime, and prevent the reinvestment of illegally obtained wealth into criminal activity".

He said while arrests had not been made in this case, "the most important part of this investigation was seizing and restraining the assets".

"Our aim is to take the assets from these people so they can't reinvest that into other criminal activity," Detective Superintendent Moller said in May 2021.

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