Criminal cartel charges have been laid against a money transfer business and five individuals for allegedly fixing the Australian dollar / Vietnamese dong exchange rate and fees they charged their customers.
The charges arose from a joint ACCC and Australian Federal Police investigation into alleged price fixing by several Sydney and Melbourne money transfer businesses. The charges relate to exchange rates and transaction fees charged when sending money from Australia to Vietnam between 2011 and 2016.
The World Bank estimates that in that period, remittances from Australia to Vietnam totalled about $700 million a year.
“This alleged behaviour is extremely serious and relates to over two thirds of all the number of money transfer transactions, and almost a quarter of the amount of money transferred, from Australia to Vietnam during the relevant period,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
Full Content: ACCC
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