Lankan Down Under refused bail in Ecstasy case

A cleaner accused of laundering $6.7 million for a drug syndicate involved in the world's largest ecstasy bust was yesterday refused bail.

Sri Lankan Bernard Dias, 35, allegedly helped a drug group in "cuckoo smurfing", a sophisticated way of substituting legitimate overseas money transfers for drugs money.

Federal agent Mark Creighton told the court Dias received amounts of up to $1 million a time between March and his arrest earlier this month. Melbourne Magistrates' Court was told he would meet accused syndicate member Sharon Ropa, 37, at a Footscray supermarket, where she would hand him bundles of cash.

Creighton said Dias then used false names to put the money into bank accounts connected with Asian money transfer agencies.

"The applicant received money from a criminal syndicate and he assisted in the banking of these monies so similar value could be made available to the criminal syndicate overseas," Creighton said.

Dias was paid 0.35 per cent of the total he allegedly helped launder, the court was told. Creighton said officers saw Dias with cash amounts "the size of house bricks" and he recruited others to help with the deposits. A search of his home uncovered 200 bank deposit slips worth $2 million and a further 54 transactions involving $703,000, it was said.

The Herald Sun