McGurk murder link to $150m fraud

Sydney police investigating $150 million in mortgage fraud are examining possible links to two murders, including the execution of businessman Michael McGurk.
The New South Wales Fraud Squad claimed its biggest scalp over the alleged racket yesterday, when the president of the Hells Angels' Sydney chapter handed himself in.
Felix Lyle, 54, is trying to raise $100,000 to be released on bail after becoming the 16th person charged over the alleged scams.
Fraud Squad Commander Col Dyson says the group is involved in two separate fraud rings linked to Mr McGurk that have used the names of the dead and vulnerable to obtain at least $15 million in loans.
"All financial institutions have been touched in some way," Detective Superintendent Dyson said.
He says the strike force investigating the fraud is probing ties to the businessman's 2009 execution and another murder.
"Some of the aspects of Strike Force Apia and its operations have links into other crimes and some of those crimes include homicides," he said.
Five men have been charged over Mr McGurk's murder. Police say no-one has been charged over the other homicide.
Felix Lyle
Felix Lyle smiled and shook hands with senior Fraud Squad detectives yesterday afternoon as he handed himself in at Surry Hills Police Station.
Police granted him bail but he has so far failed to find $100,000 surety from an acceptable person. Even so, his solicitor Martin Ricci says he continues to be in "good spirits".
Mr Ricci says his client will "vigorously defend" a charge of money laundering and three charges of attempted fraud.
Police have valued the offences at $2.3 million but the lawyer says the case has been "blown out of proportion".
Detectives allege Lyle tried to use the money to finance earthmoving equipment, motorcycles and a terrace house in the inner Sydney suburb of Alexandria, currently occupied by the Sunset Properties Group.
Lyle's bail conditions prohibit him from contacting his associate, Mr McGurk's former finance broker Terrence Reddy, who became the first person charged over their alleged fraud ring a fortnight ago.
Police are planning to charge more alleged members of the ring "in the very near future", Det Supt Dyson says, but Felix Lyle will be their highest-profile arrest.
Thirteen people have been charged over the other fraud ring.
'New rules'
The Fraud Squad Commander says his investigators are facing a new type of criminal, with gangs muscling in on white-collar crime.
"The notion of your stereotypical fraud offender being dressed in a pin-striped suit and carrying a briefcase is well and truly gone," he said.
"It's certainly becoming a new trend. Not just outlaw motorcycle gangs but all forms of organised criminals are currently working with people with experience in the financial sector and learning from their experience.
"It's certainly a new set of rules that we're encountering but as you can see from the arrests that we've made of recent times, we're certainly responding to it."
Police say Strike Force Apia has stopped $55 million in loans from being processed by a number of financial institutions.
Lyle is due to face Sydney's Central Local Court on Tuesday. His lawyer says he may apply for his bail conditions to be eased if he fails to raise his surety.
There is no suggestion any of the 16 people charged over the fraud played any part in the two murders.

 

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GUNS. Drugs. Bikies. Gangsters. Los Angeles or Miami? Melbourne or Sydney? Try the Gold Coast.

Three fatal shootings in seven weeks, including the slaying of police officer Damian Leeding as he burst in on an armed robbery in progress at a suburban tavern, has long-time locals wondering what has become of their once-idyllic seaside town.

The Gold Coast's latest tourism slogan is "Famous for Fun" but it could easily be "Famous for Guns", says veteran Southport criminal lawyer Bill Potts.

Potts, who has been practising on the Coast for more than three decades, says his hometown has become crime central.

"The place is awash with drugs and more and more people packing guns," he says.

"And as we've seen with tragic consequences in recent weeks, they're more than willing to use them."



I've lived here for almost as long as Potts and can remember the days when an armed robbery was such big news that it made the front page of the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Now, hold-ups are an almost daily occurrence (there have been almost 100 this year) and struggle to make a few paragraphs in the local paper.

You only have to spend an hour or two at Southport Magistrates Court to see the kind of low-lives who now call the Coast home.

Many are serial offenders who commit crimes to feed chronic drug habits, these days more likely to be speed or ice than the heroin epidemic that ripped through the local surfing population in the early 1970s.

The '70s was when I first holidayed here with my parents and, back then, it was a much more laid-back, innocent place.

That all changed in the mid-'80s when the international tourist boom took off. Almost overnight, the Gold Coast became the Glitter Strip.

These days on the Coast, you beep your horn or shake your fist at a fellow motorist who cuts you off at your peril because you just don't know if the bloke behind the wheel could be a steroid-pumped, ice-addicted psychopath with a gun in his glovebox. Road-ragers roam the M1 daily.

Surfers Paradise, with its drink and drug-fuelled fights and bashings, is a no-go zone for many locals.

Most of the major bikie gangs have heavily fortified clubhouses on the Coast.

In almost a decade as The Courier-Mail's Gold Coast bureau chief, I've reported on bikies cutting off a man's ears in the Currumbin Valley, shooting a man eight times on the Southport Spit, brawling with guns and knives at a five-star Ashmore hotel, and even threatening Gold Coast Hospital staff over a delayed haemorrhoid operation.

Under-manned and under-resourced local police appear to be fighting a losing battle.

How to stop the rot? More and better-equipped police and tougher penalties, perhaps.

But maybe there also needs to be a serious rethink about the strategies being used to tackle drug abuse the cause of most of the Coast's (and indeed the world's) crime.

The current strategies clearly aren't working.

The Gold Coast hasn't yet featured in the the smash-hit Underbelly TV franchise but it can't be far off. It's murdering the casting call.

 

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Posted in GUNS. Drugs. Bikies. Gangsters. Los Angeles or Miami? Melbourne or Sydney? Try the Gold Coast.

Bikies deny extorting Raymond Terrace tattooist for 'protection

Three members of a Newcastle bikie gang pleaded not guilty yesterday to almost 30 extortion charges relating to thousands of dollars in payments for protection that were allegedly made by a Raymond Terrace tattooist.
One of the men, who police allege is a senior member of the gang, pleaded not guilty in Newcastle District Court to attending the William Street business with another senior member in May 2010 and demanding payments.

They are accused of making threats before agreeing to accept weekly payments in exchange for protection three days after the parlour opened for business.

The three men who appeared yesterday, but who cannot be identified because of other court proceedings, will face trial in October.

All three pleaded not guilty to the charge that they made threats to damage property while acting as a criminal group between May and September last year.

Two of the men who are accused of collecting most of the payments pleaded not guilty to 25 charges.

They will face trial for 12 counts each of demanding money with menaces and 12 counts of receiving the proceeds of crime.

They are accused of attending the business on an almost weekly basis 12 times between May 13 and September 7, 2010, to collect sums from the owner ranging from $150 to $750.

The tattoo parlour owner allegedly paid more than $2500 to the club.

Police arrested the gang members in September last year following a special investigation into the club.

Other members of the gang are awaiting trial for an unrelated matter.

 

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Posted in Bikies deny extorting Raymond Terrace tattooist for 'protection

WEST Australian police officer has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice after allegedly concocting a traffic stop so she could dodge a speeding fine.

Police allege that in the early hours of September 21 last year, the officer drove a police car through an intersection in South Perth and was recorded going 72km/h in a 60km/h zone by a speed camera.

It's alleged she then stopped a random vehicle and made an entry in her notebook falsely stating she undertook the stop before the speed camera was activated.

"This entry was made knowing it to be false and with the intention of creating a defence under Regulation 280 of the Road Traffic Code," WA Police said.

The officer had not been on a task that would provide an exemption as an emergency vehicle, police said.
A further false entry was later made on a tasking running sheet.



The 39-year-old officer has been summonsed to appear in the Perth Court of Petty Sessions on August 8 and has been stood aside from duty.

The case follows the charging of two other Perth officers with attempting to pervert the course of justice for also allegedly concocting a traffic pursuit to dodge a speeding ticket.

The charges against a 35-year-old female senior constable and 45-year-old male constable follow an early morning incident on August 13 last year.

The two officers have been stood down from duty pending the outcome of an internal loss of confidence process.

It's alleged they drove a police vehicle through an intersection and were recorded doing 67km/h in a 60km/h zone.

Police allege the female passenger used the vehicle's police computer to key in a fictitious vehicle to falsify a computer entry purporting it had been the subject of a traffic stop.

It's alleged the male driver used the fictitious vehicle details to make an entry in his police notebook purporting that the vehicle had been stopped and the driver interviewed.

The officers have been summonsed to appear in the Perth Court of Petty Sessions on August 5.

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Posted in WEST Australian police officer has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice after allegedly concocting a traffic stop so she could dodge a speeding fine.

Police have offered a $100,000 reward for information about the disappearance and presumed death of a Sydney man who went missing nearly a year ago.

The sister of 30-year-old Mohammed Ayman Abouhait pleaded today for anyone with information about her brother's presumed death to come forward.

"If something has happened to my brother, let us know so we can finally come to terms with it and grieve properly," Inas Karem said.


"Don't leave us wondering. Please, if you know anything about Mohammed's disappearance and suspected murder, I appeal to you to come forward and speak with police."

Mr Abouhait was reported missing to police on July 30 last year after his girlfriend and family members were unable to contact him.

He was last seen five days earlier, leaving a house in Basilisk Place at Whalan in Sydney's west.

There were also reports that Mr Abouhait was seen on the same day with a man of Asian appearance in Boronia Road at nearby North St Marys.

Ms Karem said she found that someone had ransacked her brother's home in Lakemba, in Sydney's south-west, when she first went looking for him.

"My brother was a loving and caring family member, but when we held my mother's funeral last August, Mohammed didn't attend," she said.

Police divers located a number of firearms during a search of the Nepean River and found items including mobile phone parts during a search near the Great Western Highway at Minchinbury, in Sydney's west.

Detective Inspector John Betell said he hoped the $100,000 reward would convince someone to come forward.

"Our investigation has been ongoing since July last year, but we are desperate to get fresh information from members of the public," he said.

Mr Abouhait is described as of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, with an olive complexion, about 180 to 185 centimetres tall and with a medium build.

He has brown eyes and dark hair with a trimmed beard, and was last seen wearing a grey and black hooded zipped jacket with an Asics logo.

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Posted in 000 reward for information about the disappearance and presumed death of a Sydney man who went missing nearly a year ago. , Police have offered a $100

Police officers who leak information to outlaw bikie gangs

Police officers who leak information to outlaw bikie gangs and other criminal enterprises will be found, prosecuted and sacked, the heads of the NSW and Victorian police forces have warned.

Both police operations on Tuesday faced allegations that a small number of officers had engaged in corrupt behaviour, after investigations were initiated last year by anti-corruption organisations independent of police.

Victoria's Office of Police Integrity (OPI) and the Police Integrity Commission in NSW are conducting separate investigations into the alleged offences.

"The unauthorised release of information corruptly is a betrayal," NSW Police commissioner Andrew Scipione told reporters in Sydney.

"It's a betrayal of the community that we serve. It's a betrayal of the officers that serve in the organisation."

Victorian Deputy Commissioner Tim Cartwright said if the allegations were proven the force would prosecute those involved.

"We have no place in this organisation for leaks. Leaking sensitive information is a criminal offence," he said.

"We investigate these matters, we look to prosecute criminally and we look to sack."

A small number of police officers in both states are believed to be under scrutiny, although none have been charged.

It's claimed Victorian officers told bikies about a major police raid ahead of time and the contents of a secret police targeting list, Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday.

In NSW, bikies or their associates on two occasions have shown police the reports leaked to them, claiming to have paid several thousand dollars for them.

Mr Scipione said there would always be some officers who engaged in corrupt conduct.

"At the end of the day, an organisation of 20,000 people is always going to have some that determine that they'll go out there and do the wrong thing," he said.

"Will we ever stop or weed out every corrupt officer, unfortunately no.

"Will we ever stop going after them? I guarantee you we will never stop."

NSW opposition police spokesman Nathan Rees called on Police Minister Michael Gallacher to get to the bottom of the leaks and suspend information exchanges between the NSW and Victorian forces.

"It may well go across borders, and as a first step, he should suspend the exchange of information with the Victorian police force, which is rapidly becoming a running joke amongst law enforcement officers in NSW and across Australia," Mr Rees told reporters in Sydney.

The NSW Police Force said leaks had already been uncovered by its own officers, sparking joint investigations between the PIC and the police Professional Standards Command.

"At least two serving members have been charged in separate incidents this year alone with corruption offences," NSW Police said in a statement.

"A number of other people are facing charges related to the alleged corruption offences."

Victoria's Police Association said the allegations were serious and laws were in place to deal with those who may have undertaken such actions.

"We are not defending them," association secretary Greg Davies said.

"In fact we are condemning any police officer who would jeopardise a police operation and put their colleagues and the public in danger by doing so."

In a statement, OPI director Michael Strong said leaks continued to be a major concern to the organisation.

"Leakage of confidential information is a serious inhibitor to effective law enforcement," Mr Strong said.

A PIC spokeswoman declined to comment on the investigation.

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THE best friend of missing former Gypsy Jokers president Steve Williams will spend at least another 14 months in jail for blackmailing a man over a $100,000 debt.

Jason Lee Kingston, 34, protected a fellow inmate in jail for $30,000 but later threatened to kill him when he did not pay upon his release.

In the District Court today, Judge Dean Clayton said the victim received a threatening phone call from Kingston in August 2008 asking him to meet at a car yard.

When the victim and his brother arrived they were greeted by Kingston and his co-accused, Travis Lemm, 31, who increased the debt to $100,000.

"The threat was made by Travis Lemm in the presence of Jason Kingston that unless the sum of $100,000 was paid, Travis Lemm would shoot (the victim) and his brother dead," Judge Clayton said.

"The conversation went like this: `I'm Travis from the Finks. You have to pay $100,000. If you don't, I'll shoot you in the head and then I'll shoot you, that's how we work."



Lemm said he would give the brothers two days to tell him how they would get the money and one week to produce it.

"When one of them (the victim or his brother) said `that's a lot of money', Travis Lemm said `f... it, make it $150,000."

Kingston and Lemm each pleaded guilty to one count of blackmail.

Lemm also pleaded guilty to trafficking in a controlled drug, possessing a firearm without a licence and possession of a controlled drug - offences that came to light upon his arrest on the blackmail charge.

Judge Clayton said the conduct of both men was at the higher end.

"Nothing can justify the threats that were made," he said.

He jailed Kingston for two years, three months and 16 days with a non-parole period of 14 months.

Lemm was jailed for six years, four months and two weeks with a non-parole period of three-years and three-months, cumulative of his additional charges.

Lemm is also disqualified from holding or obtaining a firearm until further court order.

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Posted in 000 debt. , THE best friend of missing former Gypsy Jokers president Steve Williams will spend at least another 14 months in jail for blackmailing a man over a $100

POLICE have seized an AK-47 assault rifle following the arrest of two men over a string of armed robberies across Melbourne's north.

Special Operations Group officers executed a search warrant at a Glenroy house about 11pm yesterday, finding the weapon and taking the men into custody.

They are believed responsible for at least five robberies or attempted robberies at liquor outlets and a bank over the last five weeks.

A Brunswick East bottle shop and a Bundoora supermarket were also robbed last night before the arrests.

The men, a 35-year-old from Glenroy and a 49-year-old from Craigieburn, are being interviewed.

They are expected to front Melbourne Magistrates' Court later this morning.

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Posted in POLICE have seized an AK-47 assault rifle following the arrest of two men over a string of armed robberies across Melbourne's north.

bikie has been charged with kicking a man as he lay on the ground during a violent road rage incident.

He's the second man from a motorcycle gang to be charged over the attack at Seven Hills, in Sydney's west, earlier this month.

A 40-year-old man was driving with his wife along Artillery Road when he inadvertently sounded his horn about 10am (AEST) on July 2.

A man sitting in the passenger seat of a four-wheel drive behind them got out and started kicking the couple's car and punching the man's head, police allege.

He then went back to the four-wheel-drive which drove away.

But it returned to the scene moments later and both the driver and passenger got out of the car.

They allegedly punched the man until he fell to the ground and then kicked him as he lay on the ground.

He was treated in hospital for extensive bruising to his face, neck and torso.

A 28-year-old associate member of the Bandidos was arrested on the day of the attack but he refused to reveal the identity of his passenger.

The driver of the four-wheel-drive faces charges of common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company, affray, driver not disclose identity of passenger and breach of bail.

Another Bandidos' member, aged 37, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with a string of offences, including assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.

He has been refused bail to appear in Penrith Local Court on Wednesday.

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Posted in bikie has been charged with kicking a man as he lay on the ground during a violent road rage incident.

Sword used in pizza delivery robbery

Police say a sword was brandished during a robbery of a pizza delivery man in Sydney's north-west last night.
The 20-year-old was delivering food to two women standing on the footpath on Henry Street at Ryde just before 11:00pm (AEST).
Police say four men, two of them armed with a sword and hunting knife, then appeared from a nearby park and threatened the man.
The women and men then ran back into the park with cash and the pizzas.
Police searched the area soon afterwards but did not find the offenders.

 

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Shooting at John Ibrahim's eastern suburbs mansion

Detectives and crime scene police have converged on the eastern suburbs manison of Sydney nightclub identity John Ibrahim after reports it had been targeted by gunmen in a drive-by shooting today.

Organised crime squad police have confirmed that a number of bullet cartridges have been found on the road outside the house in George Street, Dover Heights.

Officers from Rose Bay police have sealed off the scene while detectives interview two people inside the home, one of several in the street purchased by Mr Ibrahim and have yet to establish the exact time of the shooting.

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Police said in a brief statement that the first report received of an incident in the street was about 11.30am today. They would not confirm if Mr Ibrahim was one of the people inside the premises.

The discovery of the spent rounds comes after the overnight drive-by shooting on a house next door to the Merryland home of the mother of the Mr Ibrahim and his brothers.

Police are investigating whether the shooting at the intersection of Holdsworth and Price Streets, Merrylands, about 8.30pm last night was intended to target members of the notorious family.

A 42-year-old woman and her seven-year-old son were inside the house at the time, but were not injured.

"The obvious concern is the proximity of this property to ... an Ibrahim home," Superintendent Brett McFadden said.

He said the occupants knew who their neighbours were but are not known to police.

Police are investigating the possibility that the home is owned by the Ibrahim family and may have been rented out to the unsuspecting occupants.

The mother and son are "very distressed," Superintendent McFadden said.

In January, Hassan "Sam" Ibrahim was shot twice in the legs at close range outside his mother Wahiba's house in Price Street.

Residents have expressed concern over the number of dangerous shooting incidents in the street.

"I'm satisfied we are putting [in] the right resources," Superintendent McFadden said.

He said the Ibrahim family has refused to cooperate with enquiries over the shooting.

Sam is the eldest of four brothers, who include night club entrepreneur John, shooting victim Fadi, and Michael, who has been convicted of manslaughter.

 

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Posted in Shooting at John Ibrahim's eastern suburbs mansion