News

Cattle seized by police in fraud investigation

Beef Central, 08/07/2019

Police have seized 22 cattle from two properties in New South Wales and Queensland as part of an ongoing fraud investigation.

NSW Rural Crime Investigators from the New England Police District and the Oxley Police District executed a crime scene warrant last week at a rural property near Bingara.

On the same day a simultaneous warrant was executed by the Queensland Police Major and Organised Crime Squad (Rural) at a property near Goondiwindi in Queensland.

Over three days the properties were mustered, with several hundred cattle examined by officers.

The Rural Crime Prevention Team Northern Zone Coordinator, Detective Sergeant Bennett Nolan investigators searched a rubbish tip on the New South Wales property, where they located and seized numerous exhibits relating to the cattle fraud investigation.

Ten cattle were seized at the Queensland property and 12 cattle were seized from the New South Wales property under suspicion of having altered identifying features.

At the New South Wales property a further 12 cattle were returned to nearby property owners, and 65 cattle were recovered and trucked out by a financier.

No charges have been laid at this time and investigations by the New England Rural Crime Prevention Team are continuing.

State Rural Crime Coordinator, Detective Inspector Cameron Whiteside said the Rural Crime Prevention Team was committed to disrupting those “who continually prey on our rural communities”.

“This is an example of bringing Rural Crime Investigators together across state boundaries. Criminals need to know that our capability to respond to these crimes is forever increasing and they need to change their ways or face the Courts.” Detective Inspector Whiteside said.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your comment will not appear until it has been moderated.
Contributions that contravene our Comments Policy will not be published.

Comments

Get Beef Central's news headlines emailed to you -
FREE!