A Sydney-based international student has been charged after allegedly making more than $5 million in fraudulent Tourist Refund Scheme claims related to high-end watches.<\/p>\n
The scheme allows eligible international travellers to claim a GST refund on purchases over $300 if the goods are taken overseas and not brought back.<\/p>\n
The charges stem from an AFP-led investigation, launched after the Australian Border Force uncovered a suspected Tourist Refund Scheme fraud network involving frequent overseas travel, structured cash deposits and high-value goods.<\/p>\n
Police allege the 28-year-old travelled to Chengdu Tianfu Airport in China more than 20 times between February 2025 and May 2026, with many trips lasting less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n
During the same period, police allege he deposited more than $1.1 million in cash into Australian bank accounts, mostly through ATMs in Sydney’s CBD.<\/p>\n
Police also allege he altered bank documents and repeatedly sought GST refunds for ineligible goods.<\/p>\n
Search warrants executed in Sydney’s CBD on May 20 uncovered $270,000 in cash, a cash-counting machine and electronic devices.<\/p>\n
Police also seized a Richard Mille watch valued at about $170,000, three Patek Philippe watches – including a Geneva model estimated to be worth more than $200,000 – a Van Cleef watch, two counterfeit luxury watches, and numerous receipts and invoices.<\/p>\n
The man has been charged with one count of dishonestly obtaining a financial gain.<\/p>\n
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old is due to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
AFP Detective Superintendent Peter Fogarty said fraudulent GST refund claims came at the expense of Australian taxpayers.<\/p>\n
“Every day Australians suffer when the taxation system is exploited and money goes into the pockets of criminals, which bankrolls future criminal ventures,” Det Supt Fogarty said.<\/p>\n
“Anyone who abuses the taxation system is warned \u2013 your actions and transactions are always traceable, and you are in the AFP’s sights.”<\/p>\n
Australian Border Force Superintendent Paul Barfoot said officers remained vigilant against attempts to misuse the Tourist Refund Scheme.<\/p>\n
“Our officers are highly skilled at detecting suspicious activity and travel patterns that can indicate potential fraud and trade-based money laundering,” Supt Barfoot said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Sydney-based international student has been charged after allegedly making more than $5 million in fraudulent Tourist Refund…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[24147,54055,54023,54050,5859,32784,42915,53949,54058,54033,53938,52825,53915,54043,54038,54049,53906,103,54018,54031,53900,54022,23,53932,54046,1758,54021,7458,53905,37292,7065,53931,2285,312,53914,54051,6966,16408,54027,37429,53890,6022,54034,54037,54024,53947,7436,53908,54041,54040,6968,54035,8920,54028,22955,54059,12029,54030,53899,54020,53893,44093,8937,54026,52366,54056,53918,54053,596,54054,25531,53910,53930,54045,34917,1047,54044,53933,54048,7296,54032,41843,53916,54042,53911,54039,247,54047,12668,39946,38579,54057,40412,54029,54025,37640,53929,38467,38409,46238,54052,54036,54019,36985,53919,53926],"class_list":["post-55707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sydney","tag-abf","tag-54055","tag-5-million","tag-5-million-fraud","tag-5859","tag-10-years","tag-42915","tag-a-cash-counting-machine","tag-a-financial-gain","tag-a-geneva-model","tag-a-gst-refund","tag-a-maximum-penalty","tag-a-richard-mille-watch","tag-a-suspected-tourist-refund-scheme-fraud-network","tag-a-sydney-based-international-student","tag-a-van-cleef-watch","tag-about-170","tag-afp","tag-afp-detective-superintendent-peter-fogarty","tag-an-afp-led-investigation","tag-atms","tag-attempts","tag-australia","tag-australian-bank-accounts","tag-australian-border-force-superintendent-paul-barfoot","tag-australian-federal-police","tag-australian-taxpayers","tag-australians","tag-bank-documents","tag-cash","tag-cbd","tag-chengdu-tianfu-airport","tag-china","tag-crime","tag-criminals","tag-det-supt-fogarty","tag-downing-centre-local-court","tag-electronic-devices","tag-eligible-international-travellers","tag-every-day","tag-february-2025","tag-fraud","tag-fraudulent-gst-refund-claims","tag-fraudulent-tourist-refund-scheme-claims","tag-frequent-overseas-travel","tag-future-criminal-ventures","tag-gst","tag-gst-refunds","tag-high-end-watches","tag-high-value-goods","tag-imprisonment","tag-ineligible-goods","tag-international","tag-international-student","tag-international-travel","tag-less-than-24-hours","tag-local-court","tag-luxury-goods","tag-luxury-watches","tag-many-trips","tag-may-20","tag-may-2026","tag-money","tag-more-than-1-1-million","tag-more-than-200","tag-more-than-5-million","tag-more-than-20-times","tag-multiple-watches","tag-nsw","tag-numerous-receipts-and-invoices","tag-officers","tag-one-count","tag-our-officers","tag-over-100","tag-picture","tag-police","tag-police-inquiries","tag-potential-fraud-and-trade-based-money-laundering","tag-purchases","tag-search-warrants","tag-sights","tag-snapp-breaking-or-general-news","tag-structured-cash-deposits","tag-supt-barfoot","tag-suspicious-activity-and-travel-patterns","tag-swingle","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-based-international-student","tag-tax-fraud","tag-the-28-year-old","tag-the-afp","tag-the-australian-border-force","tag-the-charges","tag-the-expense","tag-the-goods","tag-the-man","tag-the-pockets","tag-the-same-period","tag-the-scheme","tag-the-taxation-system","tag-the-tourist-refund-scheme","tag-three-patek-philippe-watches","tag-tourist-refund-scheme","tag-tuesday","tag-two-counterfeit-luxury-watches","tag-your-actions-and-transactions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}