The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) has today recovered more than $1.6 million worth of assets from convicted drug trafficker Daniel Kalaja.
In the Supreme Court in Brisbane today, the CCC was granted a forfeiture order over $1,603,899.87 worth of assets belonging to Kalaja. The amount includes cash and the proceeds from the sale of a powerboat and various blocks of land.
Kalaja was a target of the former Crime and Misconduct Commission’s Operation Warrior , which dismantled a large-scale drug distribution network based on the Gold Coast.
In July 2012, he was sentenced to 14 years jail after pleading guilty to 20 charges, including trafficking in dangerous drugs (methylamphetamine, MDMA, GHB and cannabis), supplying dangerous drugs and possession of dangerous drugs.
The Public Trustee has been holding Kalaja’s assets in trust and the proceeds will now be paid into Queensland’s consolidated revenue.
The CCC’s Acting Director of Financial Investigations, David Goody, said the decision highlighted the CCC’s multi-faceted approach to fighting organised crime.
“The CCC not only dismantles organised criminal networks, we also recover any proceeds to ensure that no one profits from these crimes,” Mr Goody said.
“This financially weakens the criminal networks, removes the profit motive and returns the proceeds to the public purse.”
“Proceeds of crime action against Kalaja commenced in 2008 as a result of a referral from the Queensland Police Service. The CCC would like to acknowledge the QPS’s assistance.”
Today’s order marks the end of proceeds of crime action against the targets of Operation Warrior. In total the CCC has returned nearly $3.2 million worth of assets to the State from the targets of this operation.
Since the Criminal Proceeds Confiscation Act (2002) took effect, the CCC has restrained $181,598,377 worth of assets and forfeited $65,799,880 to the State of Queensland.
ENDS
