investigation
Chong Wei How: WA criminals use construction industry to clean dirty proceeds of crime

The construction industry has long been a knockabout jungle, employing its fair share of abrasive and unsavoury characters down the years. But recent events, linking it to organised crime, have taken industry insiders by surprise. Many were wondering how an international student with a penchant for cooking was operating an unregistered construction business that employed between 50 and 70 workers on a prestigious WA Government project. Add to that, the workers were being paid in cash and, most disturbingly, the enterprise was allegedly a front for organised criminals to launder millions of dollars in drug-dealing profits. Having smashed the national drug and money laundering operation, WA detectives were busy planning more arrests and uncovering more details on exactly how the syndicate operated. Away, from the police side of things, alarm bells have gone off at the allegation that criminals are using Perth’s construction industry to clean their dirty proceeds of crime. And not on some insignificant, tucked-away outer suburbs project, but Elizabeth Quay, the jewel in Development WA’s crown. The construction business was Prowoo Pty Ltd. It was set up in August 2020 and was based in Cannington. The director and owner of Prowoo Pty Ltd was Malaysian man Woo Keat Kong. The 41-year-old, in Australia on a student visa, has been charged with two counts of receiving, possessing, concealing, disposing of — or dealing with — proceeds of crime. It’s rare in Perth’s construction industry for a firm to have 50-70 employees, such is the reliance on teams of subcontractors. Despite that Prowoo Pty Ltd appears to have gone unnoticed. The industry’s regulator, Building and Energy, told The Sunday Times it has no record of Prowoo Pty Ltd or Woo Keat Kong ever holding, or applying for, builder registration in WA. It is believed the company was mainly engaged in wall and ceiling fixing. Building and Energy said the allegations were a matter for police. “The Building Services Board considers the conduct of applicants, including any criminal matters, when assessing suitability for registration as a building service provider in WA,“ it said. But ceiling fixing companies do not need to be registered in WA. According to the State’s main construction union, hundreds of Asian and other overseas workers in Australia on temporary bridging visas and student visas were working in the local industry in ceiling fixing and similar roles. “They’re in no man’s land,” said CFMEU state secretary Mick Buchan. “They’re not going to come to the union and say, ‘hey, listen, there’s a problem here’. They just go underground.” “There’s probably about 2,000-to-3000 ceiling fixers working in and around the city at the moment,” he added. Master Builders Association of WA chief executive Matthew Pollock said he was shocked to learn of the case. “This is an unusual, shocking circumstance and is not something that we commonly see in the construction industry,” he said. Much of the police case remains under wraps, but some of the details have been revealed in courts. Earlier this month, prosecutors alleged Mr Woo was a key cog in a sophisticated money laundering operation, which had a “clear nexus” to illicit drugs. Prosecutors alleged his company, and several others, showed all the hallmarks of having been set up purely to launder cash. They told Magistrate Melita Medcalf that in the three months between November and February this year $2.3m in deposits were made into the accounts of Prowoo — with $2.4m coming out. In applying for bail, Mr Woo’s lawyer Justin Keogh said his client had strong ties to Perth via his business which was involved in building apartments at Elizabeth Quay. He told the court his client’s true passion was cooking. “The cash in envelopes around his house (were there because) he pays his employees in cash,” Mr Keogh said. “He is acutely aware that eyes are now firmly upon him.” A surety of unencumbered land was offered up, along with Mr Woo’s passport, and a promise to report to police and abide by a curfew. Magistrate Medcalf said she would need more information from both sides before deciding on bail. He will return to court later this month. Police believe there are other construction companies being used to launder criminals’ money and cash-in-hand payments were a big fat warning sign. “We have seen this exact thing in other industries, where they’re paying workers in cash,” said Detective Superintendent John Hutchison. “The number one problem for a drug dealer is converting the cash, getting it into the banking system or somehow converting it from cash to crypto (currency).” The MBA said cash payments in the industry were less prevalent than they were a decade ago. “It’s certainly much less prevalent in the commercial construction industry,” Mr Pollock said. “It’s very concerning to hear that works are being done as cash. It was only a few years ago when Master Builders sat as a panel member on the Federal Government’s Black Economy Task Force to try and get rid of exactly this type of behaviour.” To date, detectives from the Serious and Organised Crime Division have arrested and charged 16 people in connection with the syndicate. The alleged head of the network, Chong Wei How, was arrested on May 25, shortly after he flew into Perth from NSW. Detectives had been waiting for him. “In December 2023, an operation was formed after intelligence was received by detectives, in relation to a 39-year-old male, who is alleged to have been laundering significant amounts of cash through various methodologies including a construction company in WA,” a police spokesperson said. “Further investigations identified a further six males involved in the organisation with links to New South Wales and Victoria. “During the course of the operation approximately $1 million in cash was seized, in addition to a large number of luxury good items, one kilogram of methylamphetamine, 350 grams of heroin and 700 grams of cocaine. “Interstate, three search warrants were executed in Sydney and one in Melbourne, where the large number of luxury items were seized.” During Mr Chong’s court appearance 24 hours after he was arrested police prosecutor Naomi Foster told Magistrate Vivien Edwards Mr Chong was the leader of a criminal syndicate. “He is not a (Australian) citizen or a resident,” she said. “He is on a temporary bridging visa. “He rarely remains in one state for longer than a week. He is constantly flying between States. He has significant resources to allow him to flee the jurisdiction and the country.” Sgt Foster said that in one incident, it was alleged Mr Chong had facilitated and directed two males to a car park in Winthrop. “One male has supplied another with a package containing 350 grams of cocaine,” she said. In another incident, she told the court that police had uncovered a significant amount of drugs at an address in Rivervale after intercepting a prison phone call in which the drugs were discussed. The magistrate refused Mr Chong bail. “My view is that the risk of flight is too great,” Ms Edwards said. Mr Chong, who was known within the syndicate as Fatboy, is due to next appear in Perth Magistrate’s Court on August 28. Mr Chong, like his co-accused Mr Woo, hails from Malaysia. He has been charged with three counts of receiving, possessing, concealing, disposing of or dealing with any money or other property that is the proceeds of an offence; two counts of possession of prohibited drugs with intent to sell or supply and one charge of supplying a prohibited drug. Detectives made another rash of arrests earlier this month, including a swoop on an alleged syndicate member who had flown in from Queensland. Cameron James Stevens, 31, was arrested after two 19-year-old men allegedly left three shopping bags of cash at a park in Belmont about 6.45pm on June 4. Police claim the pair left the park in a vehicle before Mr Stevens attended the location and collected the bags. He was stopped by police a short time later, where they allegedly found $620,000 in cash along with five kilograms of cocaine. Mr Stevens had recently travelled to Perth from Queensland and after detectives searched his accommodation, they allegedly found a further $255,000 in cash. He was taken into custody and has been charged with two counts of receiving, possessing, concealing, disposing of or dealing with money or other property that is the proceeds of an offence and one count of possession of prohibited drugs with intent to sell or supply. Further intelligence led officers to conduct searches at properties in Belmont and Kewdale in the early hours of Wednesday, where they allegedly found $60,000 in cash, along with smaller quantities of cocaine. Two 19-year-old men were taken into custody and have since been charged with a raft of drug offences. They will appear in the Perth Magistrates Court on July 4. A fourth man, aged 34, was arrested in Bentley where police will allege they found about 14g of cocaine, while a search of a house in Clarkson resulted in a 35-year-old man being charged with drug offences, including supplying cocaine. “WA Police are continuing to investigate this network and to work with our partner State Police Forces to dismantle this criminal syndicate which is responsible for large scale drug and money laundering offending in WA,” a spokesperson said.

investigationChong Wei How: WA criminals use construction industry to clean dirty proceeds of crime

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Chong Wei How: WA criminals use construction industry to clean dirty proceeds of crime