BY DAKOTA TAIT
The NSW Supreme Court has ordered nearly $5 million cash seized from a rural property in the Hunter be forfeited to the Commonwealth.
Officers with the Australian Federal Police-led Operation Ironside and the NSW Police Force Drugs and Firearms Squad discovered the cash inside the wall of a sheet metal shed at Quorrobolong near Cessnock when they executed a search warrant last June.
Police discovered 49 bundles of Australian currency inside the wall crevices, with each bundle containing about $100,000.
A subsequent investigation by the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce secured the forfeiture of the almost $5 million in cash, with the New South Wales Supreme Court making the order on Monday.
Police also seized two motorcycles, two vehicles and a number of designer handbags.
An alleged encrypted communications device that had recently been burnt in a fire was also located.
A 51-year-old Quorrobolong man was arrested and charged with dealing with property reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime.
The man has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
