Australian authorities have seized assets worth nearly $2.88 million from a Queensland man as part of a years-long investigation into cybercrime and cryptocurrency-related offenses. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) announced that the forfeiture, authorized under the Proceeds of Crime Act, includes a waterfront property, a luxury car, and 25 Bitcoin linked to past illicit activity.
Details of the Asset Seizure
On May 18, the AFP confirmed the execution of a court forfeiture order targeting property determined to be the proceeds of criminal conduct. Valued at 4.5 million Australian dollars, the assets seized from the suspect included:
- A waterfront mansion in Queensland.
- A Mercedes-Benz vehicle.
- Approximately 25 Bitcoin, currently equivalent to over $1.5 million.
The action follows a detailed review by the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT), which concluded that the items could not be attributed to any verifiable income sources. As a result, the assets were deemed forfeitable under federal law and will be liquidated to fund crime prevention and law enforcement initiatives nationwide.
The AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) has secured the forfeiture of more than $4.5 million worth of assets, including a Queensland waterfront mansion, luxury car and Bitcoin, after identifying them as suspected proceeds of crime. https://t.co/Wglk0m5K50
— AFP (@AusFedPolice) May 17, 2025
The Investigation’s Origins
The case began in 2018 when authorities in Luxembourg noticed suspicious Bitcoin transactions. Tracing the trail led to a known figure in the cybercrime world—Shane Stephen Duffy, a Queensland resident previously convicted in the United States.
Duffy had pleaded guilty in 2016 for selling the stolen personal information of players from the popular online game League of Legends. Although he was not involved in the initial 2011 breach of Riot Games, he profited from the resale of the leaked data. This prior conviction put him on the radar of international enforcement agencies, eventually linking him to further questionable activities involving digital currency.
The AFP believes Duffy also played a role in the 2013 theft of 950 Bitcoin from a French exchange. Although he was never formally charged in that case, the taskforce cited strong circumstantial evidence that some of the confiscated Bitcoin may have originated from that theft or related crimes.
