What is the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce?
The Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT) is committed to tackling illegal activity and behaviour of concern in Australia’s tax, finance, and superannuation systems. It is an Australian Taxation Office (ATO)-led joint agency taskforce established in July 2015, that utilises the knowledge, resources, and experience of numerous regulatory and law enforcement agencies to address Australia’s most complex financial crimes.
SFCT Partners
The SFCT’s partner agencies include Australian Border Force, Australian Federal Police, Department of Home Affairs, and many others. As of September 2024, the SFCT has been primarily focused on “professional enablers, technology-enabled crime, and value flows between connected crime syndicates”.
Joint Chiefs of Global Enforcement
It is also a member of the J5 – the Joint Chiefs of Global Enforcement, a transnational tax crime enforcement organisation that includes Canada, Australia, the UK, Netherlands, and US.
Who Funds Them?
The funding for the SFCT is provided by the Australian government, who in 2023 provided $223.8 million in funding to the ATO to keep the SFCT functioning through to June 2027 – at which point it will merge with the Australian Federal Police’s Serious and Organised Crime program to “maximise the government’s ability to disrupt organised crime.
Since its inception in 2017, the SFCT has completed approximately 2,448 audits, convicted and sentenced over 67 people, procured more than $2.8 billion in liabilities, and collected more than $1 billion.
Legislation
Taxation Administration Act 1953
The legislation that informs what sorts of actions the SFCT can take is the Taxation Administration Act 1953, which features a host of actionable offenses, including incorrect record keeping, making intentionally inaccurate statements, not complying with section 8G of the Taxation Administration Act, and more.
Criminal Code Act 1995
The SFCT can also, when the evidence warrants it, refer cases to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP), who can prosecute cases such as money laundering, fraud, and more, under the Criminal Code Act 1995.
Success Stories
The official SFCT website provides readers with case studies that showcase the efforts and outcomes of the organisation’s efforts in combatting crime in Australia. The 2024 calendar year saw notable cases such as:
Operation Elbrus
February 2024 saw the final chapter in Operation Elbrus, a now eleven-year old investigation into large-scale tax fraud and money laundering, come to a close as the last offender in the case, a former finance manager, had his charge and sentence issued: 4 years 6 months jail, with a non-parole period of 2 years 3 months.
This followed multiple sentencings issued in 2023, which saw multiple co-conspirators jailed for 15, 14, 9, and 8 years for their roles in the matter.
Operation Bordelon
A $10 million payroll fraud and illegal phoenixing operation, Operation Bordelon’s successes saw six members of this complex money laundering scheme jailed for a combined maximum term of 43 years.
Halting fraudulent tax accounting practices
A former tax agent was prosecuted for defrauding the ATO of $193,549 via fraudulent tax lodgings and fake job ads.
Identifying misuse of liquidation services
Issuing a four-year imprisonment sentence against a former liquidator for dishonest conduct and misappropriating funds for personal gain.
Stopping GST and JobKeeper fraud
Following the lodging of false business activity statements and a false Cashflow Boost Stimulus application for a dormant company in August 2020, one Australian defrauded the ATO of $30,926, which she has been ordered to repay following her October 2024 sentencing.
Key Takeaways
Through its partnerships with numerous federal bodies, the ATO-led Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT) is able to impede the efforts of organised crime, fraudulent phoenix companies, and malignant exploiters of Australia’s tax and superannuation systems, to minimise abuses to the system and incarcerate those who would take advantage of these systems for personal and illicit gain.
