Two Irishmen arrested in Australian fraud probe

Two Irish nationals are likely to face criminal charges after being arrested in Australia for their alleged role in a crime syndicate which defrauded at least 150 people of almost $4m (€2.7m).

The pair were among four people arrested when the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) and the Queensland Police raided two so-called ‘boiler rooms’ from which households around Australia had been cold-called regarding bogus computer software and managed-investment schemes.

It has been claimed the fraud operation — dubbed the ‘Irish Boys’ — had been running for up to a decade. One office in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, raided as part of Operation Unwind, found 12 people working there, while another in the suburb of Bundall had 31 staff.