Chinese ‘Professional’ Beggars Flown from China to Melbourne Earning $400 a Day
Begging or gathering alms is a crime in Victoria State of Australia. It carries a punishment of one year in jail.
Police have charged seven people over an alleged “professional begging” operation in which people are flown from China to Melbourne on tourist visas to target passers-by in the CBD.
Police Officers charged the group with begging and possessing property suspected of being the proceeds of crime during a targeted operation in the city centre.
Acting Inspector John Travaglini said some of those charged were claiming to be homeless but officers later discovered they had access to shared housing in the CBD.
He confirmed the offenders were in Australia on tourist visas and a number of them had recently transferred Australian dollars into Chinese yuan. Inspector Travaglini said while all begging was illegal, the false claims of homelessness were “deceitful” and concerning.
“You’ve got your traditional style of begging if you like, that we see on Melbourne streets and the CBD and like I said, different metropolitan communities,” said the Inspector.
“Generally speaking those people are vulnerable and in need and are genuinely homeless, whereas these people have flown into the country just to make money off Melbournians’ goodwill.
The group of people charged had been offered referrals to homelessness support agencies through the Salvation Army, but only one had taken up the offer, Inspector Travaglini said.
Victoria Police said it was working with the Australian Border Force, Australian Federal Police, the City of Melbourne and the Salvation Army to investigate the issue.
While the seven people were charged with offences, Inspector Travaglini said they were still free to leave the country.
A video published on Reddit two weeks ago claimed to reveal an organised “syndicate” of fake beggars in the CBD.
Police today confirmed one of the women featured in the video was among the group charged this week.
Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, Sally Capp, said she was “gobsmacked” at the suggestion that beggars were being flown in from China on tourist visas to collect money in the CBD.
“I think it’s clear now that they are part of an organised system but that many of those people are really quite vulnerable themselves and they’ve been pulled into this situation,” she said.
“We face this complexity of people at their most vulnerable but needing to be able to take strong action and the right action to actually make a difference.”
Ms Capp said she hoped the operation would highlight the illegality of begging and discourage well-meaning people from giving money to beggars.
“It’s a really hard message to get out to caring Melburnians to say ‘please do not give to beggars’,” she said.
She urged people concerned about a homeless person to direct them to specialised support services instead of offering them cash.
It is not the first time a spotlight has fallen on professional begging in Melbourne’s CBD.
A 2015 study report by the Salvation Army that many a professional beggars were earning up to $ 400 a day and also intimidating women and international tourists.
