source : the age
Police have launched raids in two states as part of a cross-border operation involving Queensland and Victorian detectives and allegations that union officials were corrupted.
The surprise operation was led by Victoria’s Taskforce Hawk and included Queensland detectives linked to the state’s commission of inquiry into the CFMEU.
According to information detailed in search warrants, authorities allege that CFMEU officials are involved in the federal crime of seeking to corrupt a member of a registered trade union.
In a statement, Victoria Police said Taskforce Hawk detectives had also executed a number of warrants in Victoria as part of its investigation into alleged corrupting benefits offences.
The 47-year-old female director of a labour hire company was one of three people arrested as part of a series of early morning raids across Victoria.
Electronic devices and paperwork were seized after police raided two residential properties in the Mornington Peninsula and in the city’s north.
A 33-year-old man was charged with distributing an intimate image after explicit images of a female union member were allegedly stolen from the union’s Victorian headquarters.
A second man was charged with making a false document as part of a separate investigation into the reported security breach.
Both men were released on bail and are expected to appear in court later this year.
“Today’s warrants form part of a Taskforce Hawk investigation into allegations of people linked to a Victorian-based labour hire company providing corrupting benefits to current Queensland-based CFMEU officials to influence them in the performance of their duties,” Victoria Police said in a statement.
The co-operation between Queensland and Victorian police is a significant development and reveals attempts to uncover suspected crime and corruption in the building industry has become a borderless effort.
Victorian investigators executed warrants at two residential properties in Mount Eliza, a residential property in Pascoe Vale, and a commercial premises in Oakleigh South.
In Queensland, search warrants were executed at homes in Pimpama and Bahrs Scrub, and at the CFMEU’s Queensland office in Bowen Hills.
The investigation began in July, according to a statement from Queensland’s Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU and Misconduct in the Construction Industry.
About 10 plain-clothes officers were seen at the premises in Bowen Hills, in Brisbane’s inner north, on Wednesday morning, with a security guard stationed inside.
Four unmarked police cars were parked outside the building, and the door was manually opened to let each officer inside.
A CFMEU spokesperson told this masthead: “CFMEU has been made aware of a police investigation this morning and will co-operate fully.”
Four officers left the building about 8.50am, driving away in two vehicles. No one was seen carrying any items out of the offices.
The last significant corrupting benefits case involved the jailing of former NSW CFMEU official Darren Greenfield and son Michael.
The suspected offending that led to the Brisbane raid on Wednesday allegedly took place in Queensland and NSW.
Regardless of whether the raids lead to charges, they will almost certainly inform the coming Victorian royal commission and the ongoing Queensland commission of inquiry into the CFMEU.
The Queensland inquiry’s senior counsel assisting, Patrick Wheelahan KC, said the joint operation demonstrated the importance of the commission working closely with law enforcement agencies.
“Queensland Police detectives seconded to the commission have worked closely with Victoria Police investigators as part of this joint investigation,” he said.
“Today’s operation demonstrates that information provided to the commission can be investigated and, where appropriate, acted upon by police.”
The police activity comes a fortnight after the taskforce oversaw raids targeting officials in Victoria and former members of an outlaw bikie gang in connection to allegations of bribery and criminal activity.
The royal commission in Victoria into the construction industry was announced after organised crime infiltration of the CFMEU and the government’s Big Build program was uncovered by this masthead and 60 Minutes.
Nick McKenzie is an Age investigative journalist who has three times been named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year. A winner of 20 Walkley Awards, including the Gold Walkley, he investigates politics, business, foreign affairs and criminal justice.Connect via email.
