About the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce
The Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT) is an ATO-led joint-agency taskforce established on 1 July 2015. It brings together the knowledge, resources and experience of relevant law enforcement and regulatory agencies to identify and address the most serious and complex forms of financial crime.
Serious financial crime
Each year, serious financial crime costs the Australian community millions of dollars in lost revenue. With the support of partner agencies, we are committed to preventing, detecting and dealing with this kind of criminal activity through the SFCT.
Rapidly evolving technology has provided a platform for criminals to become more active, finding new ways to target vulnerable people. The SFCT does not take this lightly and will investigate the most serious offenders of these crimes. They will be brought to account.
The current focus of the SFCT is on:
- professional enablers
- technology enabled crime
- value flows between connected criminal syndicates.
The SFCT includes:
- Attorney-General's Department (AGD)
- Australian Border Force (ABF)
- Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC)
- Australian Federal Police (AFP)
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
- Australian Tax Office (ATO)
- Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)
- Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP)
- Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs)
- Services Australia.
In July 2023, the Government provided $223.8 million to the ATO over 4 years to extend the SFCT through to 30 June 2027 and merge with the Serious Organised Crime (SOC) program. The extension and merging of the SOC program will maximise the disruption of organised crime groups that seek to undermine the integrity of Australia's public finances.
Continued funding allows us to leverage the capabilities and powers of Commonwealth law enforcement and regulatory agencies. It will also enable the SFCT to keep sharing our collective knowledge, resources and experience to target the most serious and complex forms of financial crime that present the highest risk to Australia's tax and superannuation systems.
The SFCT also supports Australia’s involvement as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5). This allows us to work together globally with leaders of tax enforcement authorities from Canada, UK, USA and the Netherlands to further disrupt international tax crime and money laundering.
As a member of the SFCT, we are equipped with the resources, data-matching capability and international and domestic intelligence-sharing relationships to uncover even the most intricately-planned serious financial crimes.
Serious Financial Crime Taskforce – making a difference
Watch our video to learn more about the difference the SFCT is making to serious financial crime.
Media: Cybercrime
https://tv.ato.gov.au/ato-tv/media?v=bi9or7odfyfjh5External Link (Duration: 01:16)
Serious Financial Crime Taskforce results
The Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT) started operation on 1 July 2015.
From this date until 31 March 2024, the Taskforce has progressed cases that have resulted in:
- completion of 2,152 audits and reviews
- conviction and sentencing of 38 people
- raised liabilities of over $2.182 billion
- collected $842 million.
Make a tip-off
The SFCT is committed to tackling illegal activity and behaviour of concern. If you are concerned that you or someone you know is doing the wrong thing, you can confidentially tell us about it.
To report any known or suspected illegal behaviour you can either:
- complete the tip-off form
- phone us on the ATO Tip-off hotline on 1800 060 062.
Serious Financial Crime Identikit
You can help us stop serious financial criminals by being aware how they operate.
We've developed the Serious Financial Crime Identikit to help Australians better understand:
- how serious financial crime affects the community
- the kinds of criminals involved
- the warning signs to look out for.
The kit features a series of personas that describe the different roles played by criminals involved in serious financial crime, how they can be spotted and what to do if you see something suspicious.
It also includes a checklist of the main warning signs, plus tips for protecting yourself from cybercrime.
Download and share the Serious Financial Crime Identikit
You can download the Serious Financial Crime Identikit and fact sheets. Share this information with your network to encourage others to keep an eye out for suspicious activity:
- Serious Financial Crime Identikit (including a warning signs checklist) (PDF, 3.1MB)This link will download a file
- Infographic – Serious Financial Crime Identikit (PDF, 1.1MB)This link will download a file
Fact sheets
- We’re targeting: Offshore tax evasion (PDF, 455KB)This link will download a file
- We’re targeting: Cybercrime affecting the tax and superannuation systems (PDF, 392KB)This link will download a file
- We’re targeting: Illegal phoenix activity (PDF, 451KB)This link will download a file
- We’re targeting: Fraud related to the COVID Economic Response Package (PDF, 227KB)This link will download a file
Podcast
Our podcast discussion about serious financial crime features:
- Will Day (ATO Deputy Commissioner and SFCT Chief)
- Dr Rick Brown (Deputy Director of the Australian Institute of Criminology), and
- host Emily Webb (Crime author and co-host of the Australian True Crime Podcast).
Listen to the Tax inVoice podcast: Lying, cheating thievesExternal Link.
Keep up to date
ESST Intelligence Bulletin
The SFCT has released a new Intelligence Bulletin warning businesses against using electronic sales suppression tools (ESSTs). ESSTs are used by businesses to illegally manipulate transaction records and avoid their tax obligations.
Since 2018, it has been illegal to produce, supply, possess, use or promote ESSTs in Australia.
If you have an ESST attached to your point-of-sale system, we encourage you to make a voluntary disclosure.
Read the bulletin in the following languages:
- English or download the English bulletin (NAT 75487, PDF 117KB)This link will download a file
- Traditional Chinese or download the Traditional Chinese bulletin (NAT 75487CHT, PDF 185KBThis link will download a file)This link will download a file
- Simplified Chinese or download the Simplified Chinese bulletin (NAT 75487CHS, PDF 168KB)This link will download a file
- Vietnamese or download the Vietnamese bulletin (NAT 75487VIE, PDF 169KB)This link will download a file
Fraud in the precious metals refining industry
The illegal manipulation of the government’s interpretation of precious metals has been a focus for the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT), which has investigated participants alleged to have been involved in gold bullion fraud.
Latest media releases
- Queensland women sentenced for fraudulent claims to COVID-19 scheme
- Suspected criminal operation accused of laundering $1 billion
- Final person sentenced over Operation Elbrus tax fraud
- From gold bars to iron bars
- Operation Underpitch smashes money laundering, tax evasion and foreign worker exploitation within the NSW and ACT construction industry
- Former Chair, CEO and CFO of Bruck Textile Technologies committed to stand trialExternal Link
- Foreign worker exploitation targeted in multi-agency operation
- Operation Elbrus: Sydney man jailed for tax fraud
- Operation Elbrus: Woman jailed for tax fraud offencesExternal Link
- Sydney man sentenced for defrauding the ATO of more than $3 million
- Canberra man jailed for complex fraud linked to organised crime
- Operation Elbrus court outcome revealed: lawyer jailed for 12 years
- Three guilty verdicts in Operation Elbrus trial
- ATO and AFP crackdown on Op Protego promoters
- Melbourne woman sentenced after stealing millions from superannuation and share trading accountsExternal Link
- Taskforce takes further action on GST fraud
- GST fraud crackdown: ATO-led taskforce executes raids across the country
- Former Chair, CEO and CFO of Bruck Textile Technologies charged with preventing recovery of employee entitlementsExternal Link
- Two men face $1.2m tax fraud, perverting justice chargesExternal Link
- 14th person charged in relation to $20 million fraud investigation
- Lawyer and former company officers associated with Members Alliance and Benchmark groups facing 72 criminal chargesExternal Link
- Western Sydney man becomes 13th person charged in relation to $20 million fraud investigation
- Adelaide man charged over alleged $38.5 million tax fraud
- Man sentenced after failed appeal in long-running tax evasion caseExternal Link
- 62-year-old has been charged for alleged illegal "phoenix" activity: charges totalling nearly $850,000
- Fresh charges laid against WA woman accused of $330,000 superannuation fraudExternal Link
- WA man charged over alleged $2.57 million tax evasion and fraudExternal Link
- Sydney man charged with dealing with proceeds from a $3 million fraud on the ATOExternal Link
Past media releases
Read our past SFCT media releases and listen to the audio grabs.
Case studies
Case studies reinforce that those who deliberately cheat the system will be held to account. You can read our case studies below:
Taskforce agencies
Find out more about some of our SFCT partner agencies: