| Jan
17, 2000 |
Footy
star Schwarz gives reference for Moran associate
A reference from champion
Melbourne footballer David Schwarz helped a man with underworld links to escape jail.
Darren
William Harland was caught with a loaded gun while visiting gangster
friend Jason
Moran at Fulham prison, in eastern Victoria, in 1999.
Moran was an associate of slain gangster Alphonse
Gangitano and half-brother of gangland murder victim Mark Moran.
Harland
and an unidentified friend fled when prison guards called police. He was
arrested later in Melbourne.
Harland,
a former VFA player for Werribee and Port
Melbourne, pleaded guilty to charges including owning an unlicensed
handgun but was not jailed.
|
| February
7, 2000 |
Mark
Moran caught with drugs, gun
Mark
Moran was arrested after police intercepted him driving a
luxury sports car. When they searched it detectives found a hi-tech
handgun and a quantity of stamped amphetamine tablets. These were the
same as those obtained by police in a raid the day after
Moran's shooting.
|
| March
2000 |
Former
cop Hicks pleads innocence
Detective Kevin
John Hicks pleaded guilty to one charge of bribery, one count of
theft and two counts of burglary. The offences occurred from January 21,
1992 to May 15, 1993 when Hicks allowed drug dealer
Peter
Pilarinos and his team to remove confiscated drugs from a police
store.
|
| April
10, 2000 |
Court
told of police drug cartel at Hicks hearing
A drug cartel had
operated within the Victoria police force for at least a decade, counsel
for a confessed drug trafficker told a Supreme Court judge.
In pre-defence
submissions, the defence counsel, Mr
Brian Cash, said Peter
Pilarinos would say that Kevin
John Hicks, a "pitiful" former drug squad detective he
bribed to obtain keys to a police drug compound, was "but a
minnow" and subservient to other corrupt officers.
|
| April 29,
2000 |
Cop suspect in
Thurgood- Dove murder failed a lie detector test.
The polygraph
machine used to test a serving police officer suspected as having been
implicated in the 1997 murder of Niddrie mother of three, Jane Thurgood-Dove
is believed to have indicated he answered dishonestly when asked if he
was responsible for Mrs Thurgood-Dove's death.
He is believed to
have denied any part in the murder.
|
| May
6, 2000 |
Gatto
guilty of dodgy punting splurge
A court heard a punting
frenzy lost a gambler more than $300,000 in a day after he placed nearly
half a million dollars in bets using a false name.
Mick
Gatto, 44, of East Doncaster, and an associate of Alphonse
Gangitano, faced deception charges after allegedly placing 39
telephone bets with bookmaker Rodney Cleary on June 12, 1999.
|
| May
8, 2000 |
Frank
Benvenuto shot dead
Frank
Benvenuto, the son of former Melbourne Godfather Liborio,
was shot dead in Beaumaris. Frank
Benvenuto employed Victor Peirce during the 1980's.
|
| May 10,
2000 |
Drugs,
guns, cash found at St Kilda cop shop
Seizures of drugs, guns
and money at the were made at the headquarters of the Criminal
Intelligence Unit at St
Kilda Police Station. Police sources said the search uncovered
several guns, including a sawn-off rifle, cannabis seeds, money and
white powder that was found to be heroin.
|
| May 16,
2000 |
Mlandenich
shot dead
Drug
dealer and stand over man Richard Mlandenich was shot dead at a St Kilda
flat.
He
had been released from jail a month before and had shared a room with Chopper
Read whilst inside.
Mlandenich
was said to be a giant of a man as well as being extremely violent.
Had
a criminal record of more than nine pages with most charges relating to
street violence. He also had 24 aliases including John Mancini and
RIchard Mantello.
|
| June
14, 2000 |
Melbourne
speed factories raided
In a series of raids on
Melbourne speed factories, several arrests are made including that of a
large amphetamines dealer known as the 'Penguin'.
|
| June
15, 2000 |
Mark
Moran shot dead
Mark
Moran is murdered outside his luxury home in Combermere St,
Aberfeldie, near Essendon. Rumours abound that he may have been killed
in revenge for the murder of self-styled gangster, Alphonse
Gangitano. Mark was a known associate of Frank
Benvenuto, son of former Melbourne Godfather Liborio, who was shot
dead in Beaumauris the previous month.
The
following day 5000 stamped amphetamine
tablets the same as those found in Mark
Moran's possession in February were obtained by police raids
including one on Mark's former football club president Jeffrey
Robert Milne.
It was the
widely held belief that rival drug dealer Carl
Williams was the person responsible for shooting Moran.
|
|
June 16,
2000
|
Appeal
fails for Krakouer
Former AFL star Jimmy
Krakouer will remain in jail after failing to persuade the High Court to
allow an appeal against his 16-year sentence for helping transport
amphetamines from Melbourne to Perth. Three High Court justices rejected
arguments put forward by Krakouer's lawyer Mark Dean that his sentence
was out of line with the jail terms imposed on his co-offenders on
similar charges. Mr Dean had argued that Krakouer deserved a sentence in
line with those imposed by the County Court of Victoria on Ronald Foster
and John William Higgs.
Foster received two years and nine months, with 21 months suspended. Higgs
was jailed for six years, with a minimum of four. But the High Court
ruled that Krakouer had no factual foundation to pursue an appeal.
Justice Michael McHugh said neither Higgs nor Foster had been charged with being accessories to the same crimes
Krakouer had been charged with and the evidence was not strong enough to
establish a link.
|
| June
20, 2000 |
Sawn-off
found at Benalla cop shop
The Victoria Police
ethical standards department is investigating the discovery of a
sawn-off shotgun hidden underneath a locker in the change rooms of the
Benalla police station The discovery comes just five weeks after a
several guns and drugs were found hidden in the ceiling of the St Kilda
police station.
The Benalla Criminal
Investigation Unit is the former stamping ground of disgraced detectives
Denis
Tanner - named by State Coroner Graeme Johnstone as the killer of
his sister-in-law, Jennifer Tanner, who was shot in 1978 - and Kevin
Hicks, who was recently jailed for seven-and-a-half years for his
part in a break-in at the police drug storage compound at Attwood. The
two former detectives worked together at Benalla for several months
before Hicks was arrested in May 1997.
|
| June
22, 2000 |
500
gather at Mark Moran funeral
About 500 mourners
dressed in black coats and dark sunglasses gathered to farewell slain
gangster Mark
Moran.
Moran's half brother, Jason,
granted day leave from prison to be at the funeral at St Therese's
Church in Essendon, sat under guard with his head in his hands during
the service.
|
| July
10, 2000 |
Andrew
Fraser police tapes revealed
Police taped private
conversations between high-profile Melbourne solicitor, Andrew
Fraser, (previously a representative for the likes of Alan Bond, Dennis
Allen and Anthony
Farrell) and his clients that were unrelated to their cocaine
trafficking investigation, a court heard. Brothers of gunned-down
underworld figure Mark
Moran were under investigation. Fraser, a tough criminal lawyer had
been a major obstacle between a successful Walsh
Street murder conviction for
Farrell et al.
|
| July
13, 2000 |
Tom
Scriva dies
Tom
Scriva, a solicitor with links to the Benvenuto
clan, Russell Street bombing suspects and those accused of the Walsh
Street shootings died of natural causes. It is revealed that
Scriva had ripped off many criminals in his loan scams.
|
| July
15, 2000 |
Drug
Squad head retires
Detective Chief Inspector
John McKoy,
retired as head of the drug squad.
|
| July
16, 2000 |
Photo-fit
of Silk-Miller shooter released
Police distributed
nationwide a detailed photofit of a man wanted over the killing of two
police officers in Melbourne almost two years ago. It was the strongest
lead to come out of the 23-month investigation into the shootings of
Sergeant Gary
Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller.
It had been derived from a photograph investigator Paul Sheridan and his
Operation Lorimer Taskforce had in their possession. It was of 19
year-old Jason Roberts the son-in-law and alleged accomplice of Bandali
Michael Debs.
|
| July
22, 2000 |
Mercuri dies
Santo
Mecuri, the man convicted of the Brunswick armed robbery and
shooting of security guard Dominik Hefti, died of a suspected heart
attack at Barwon Prison.
Mecuri had remained very fit whilst in prison and was feared amongst other
inmates.
The Brunswick shooting
was alleged to have also involved the now dead Mark
Moran and brother Jason as well as Russell
'Mad Dog' Cox.
The robbery led to the
police shooting of another suspect, Graeme
Jensen and possibly the Walsh
Street Shootings.
|
| July
25, 2000 |
Two
arrests in Silk-Miller shootings
Two men aged 47 and 19
were arrested today over the 1998 killings of police officers Gary
Silk and Rodney
Miller, police said today. Arrested were 47-year-old Bandali Michael
Debs and Jason Roberts. They resided in the Narre Warre/ Cranbourne area
and possessed a dark coloured Hyundai which had been damaged and
repaired.
There were also arrests
in Sydney where firearms were found in the raid on a home. Victorian
Chief Commissioner Neil Comrie said the arrests were a defining
point in the history of the Victorian police. "This is a day we
have been waiting for, for two year," Mr
Comrie said.
|
| July
31, 2000 |
Missing
police pistol reappears
The
missing Beretta pistol, stolen from a drug squad safe in late 1999,
appeared, clean of prints, in an un-marked envelope back in the
inspectors office. A Sunday Herald Sun report on November 25, 2001,
stated that the pistol had been returned with a different barrel and
firing pin.
|
| August
2000 |
Darren
Harland caught with a gun at Fulham Prison
Harland
happened to be visiting notorious gangster, Jason
Moran.
A loaded
semi-automatic Phoenix .22 pistol was found in a bag in his car. When
asked if it was his gun he replied: “ It wasn’t in there when we
pulled up”.
Harland
and an unidentified friend, fled when the guards called police.
Harland
had driven to the prison with a man who fled the scene after the gun was
discovered by prison authorities. The man remained unidentified and at
large.
Harland
was arrested in Melbourne shortly after.
Harland
was later convicted on two gun charges and fined $3500. He was sentenced
to six months jail, suspended for a year.
|
| August
2000 |
Footy
star Carey gives reference for Jason Moran
AFL Star Wayne
Carey gives character evidence in the trial of Gangster Jason
Moran for his involvement in a brawl involving slain mafia figure Alphonse
Gangiatano.
Moran was part of what police termed the new breed of 'Bollinger' drug dealers
selling to celebrities and the new rich. This was similar Dennis
Allen had gained in the 1980's.
|
| September
27, 2007 |
Thurgood-Dove
suspect dead
Steven John Mordy died
in bed at his North Geelong home.
Mordy was suspected by police of being
the bungling gunman who shot Jane Thurgood-Dove
in 1997 instead of a neighbour who was the intended target.
A Coroner's Court report found the most
likely cause of death was a heart condition and that amphetamines may
have contributed.
|
| October
11, 2000 |
Beljajev
found not guilty
Boris
Beljajev was found not guilty of commercial heroin trafficking.
|
| October
13, 2000 |
Beljajev acquitted - Lewenberg accused
Boris
Beljajev
and two other men, Leslaw Kunz and Larry Lambert, were acquitted after
after a 15-month retrial.
Mr
Beljajev's,
was on remand for 5 1/2 years before he was finally cleared after three
trials on cocaine and heroin charges.
Colourful Melbourne legal identity, Alex
Lewenberg, was not in the dock during the marathon Boris
Beljajev trial but he was accused of being Mr
Beljajev's
accomplice.
The Crown claimed the city solicitor was
the legal adviser to Mr
Beljajev's
alleged heroin trafficking business.
|
| October
14, 2000 |
Dino Dibra shot dead
A gun-loving gangster
connected to cocaine and ecstasy trafficking died in a hail of bullets.
Dino
Dibra was known to fancy himself as another Alphonse Gangitano
and his wish was brutally realised. At the time of his death,
Dibra was awaiting trial with another man over the shooting of two bouncers at
the Dome nightclub in Prahran and a western suburbs kidnapping.
"There were about six shots, then a car load of men drove off. It
sounded like two different guns going off. The last three shots were
louder than the first three". Sources told the Herald Sun
Dibra was known to murdered gangsters Mark
Moran and Charlie
Hegyalji.
|
| October
22, 2000 |
Dips
millionaire shot dead in street
Christos
Saristavros, a self-made millionaire who started the popular Poseidon
brand of dips and spreads, was shot in the chest from close range after
a confrontation with an unknown.
The
Sandringham man was shot dead in front of his wife after attending a
charity function.
|
| November
2000 |
Half
ton ephedrine recovered as police focus on Mokbel
Police recovered 550kg of
ephedrine which could produce $2b worth of illicit drugs when it was
seized from a shipping container of ceramic toilets.
The container had been
delivered to a Coburg factory.
The four men accused of
trafficking the drug were later arrested in a huge dock-side drug
seizure on August 24. 2001.
The raids saw police
confiscating the red Ferrari and plush Port Melbourne penthouse
belonging to Tony Mokbel. In all
$15m worth of assets were frozen.
|
| December
2000 |
Drug
Squad chemicals missing
An
audit discovers drug making chemicals bought by the drug squad for sting
operations are missing. Investigators suspect police officers ordering
drugs without authorisation and selling them to criminals for massive
profit.
|
| December
2000 |
Lewis
Moran in sting
Lewis
Moran, the father of the notorious Jason
Moran, was accused of selling hashish for $25,000 to a police
informer.
Lewis
Moran was later arrested with alleged drug baron Tony
Mockbel.
|
| December
10, 2000 |
Comrie
to quit
Chief
Commissioner Neil Comrie decided to step down next March after eight
turbulent and headline-hitting years in the job.
|
| January
15-31, 2001 |
Former
detective accused of brothel bribes
Police later alleged that
between January 15 and 31 2001, former detective Russell
Bassett falsely told the owner of Gotham City brothel in South
Melbourne, who was applying to vary a brothel licence, that a serving
police officer on the board of the Victorian Civil and Administrative
Tribunal would preside over his application.
|
| January 19,
2001 |
Thugood-Dove
killer's driver offered amnesty
The driver of get away car
allegedly used in the 1997 murder of Jane
Thurgood-Dove was offered an amnesty in an agreement between
police and the Department of Public Prosecutions.
Police later indicated that the getaway driver could be eligible for the reward.
Detectives
admitted that after almost four years, they had come no closer to solving the murder.
Det. Insp. Brian
Rix of the homicide squad said the unknown driver held the key to solving the
crime and maybe spared prosecution.
"It is a
Quantum Leap to go from stealing a car to being implicated in a murder as
horrendous as this one"' Rix said.
|
| Feb
2, 2001 |
Football
club president says 'drugs were Moran's'
A football club president
found with a massive haul of amphetamines claims they belonged to a
gangster mate Mark
Anthony Moran murdered in an execution-style slaying.
Jeffrey
Robert Milne appeared in a County Court witness box to say more than
3kg of the drug had been stored in his back yard bungalow by the half
brother of jailed Jason
Moran. Milne,
37 of Intervail Drive Avondale Heights, pleaded guilty to three counts
of trafficking in a drug of dependence and one of possessing a drug of
dependence.
Judge Barnett remanded him in custody for later sentencing.
|
| Feb
11, 2001 |
No
evidence of Moran pressure in drug case
There was no evidence a
gangster who was later murdered had pressured a mate to hide a massive
haul of amphetamines, a judge has said.
Nor had Jeffrey
Robert Milne tried to get rid of the illicit drugs he claimed murder
victim Mark
Anthony Moran had stockpiled in his Avondale Heights bungalow.
But County Court Judge
John Barnett accepted 37-year-old Milne
was a man easily seduced who may have simply provided a warehouse for
more than 3kg of drugs.
Police found the drugs in his possession the day after Moran
was shot dead in the drive of his home in June in 2000.
Milne,
former president of the Kensington Football Club and a popular local
community identity, had pleaded guilty to three counts of trafficking a
drug of dependence and one of possessing a drug of dependence. In
sentencing Milne on Friday, Judge Barnett said he was unable to say what
Milne's
role had been in the drug haul. But the judge said Milne
must have been aware of the seriousness of trafficking drugs. The judge
told Milne he could have stopped Moran
hiding the drugs at his home. He could have locked his doors, sought
advice from others or reported the matter to police. Being ``as generous
as he could'', Judge Barnett sentenced him to three years' jail.
|
| Feb
15, 2001 |
Pilarinos
jail term cut to four year minimum
A Court reduced a
cancer-stricken drug trafficker's jail term for bribing a policeman into
giving him the keys to a police chemical store.
Three Court of Appeal
judges agreed with Peter Pilarinos' original sentence of 8 1/2 years with a minimum of six,
but said his bladder cancer would make jail especially tough for him.
They reduced Pilarinos'
minimum sentence to four years and set a maximum of 7 1/2 years.
|
| March
22, 2001 |
Man
shot dead in Armadale park
A 41-year-old man from Oakleigh was
shot dead in a small suburban park in Armadale at about 11pm.
A visitor in the area found the man's
body about 15 minutes later in the park at corner of Inverness Avenue
and The Terrace.
Police identified the man as George
Germanos.
He was dressed in an open-necked white
shirt, dark jacket and pants with black boots.
Police said today he had suffered
gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
"It’s certainly gruesome. It
appears to be quite a ghastly scene. It appears he’s been shot a
number of times," said Detective Inspector Andrew Allen.
|
|
April 16, 2001
|
More
police involvement with ecstasy?
Reyn
Rekhaviashili was arrested during an early morning raid on his hotel
room in St Kilda.
It
is alleged police found 1157 pills- some containing ecstasy, others
methamphetamine and ketamine - in packets on Mr Rekhviashvili and in his
room safe as well as $35,000 in cash.
It was later alleged Mr
Rekhviashvili offered a detective $35,000 to avoid having to face trial.
Reyn Rekhviashvili was
taped giving the officer a $5000 down-payment on the alleged bribe,
Melbourne Magistrates' was later told.
Sen-Constable Steve
Trewavas was also allegedly given tickets to persuasion from an articled
clerk and another detective to accept the money.
Sen-Constable Trewavas
later told a court Mr Rekhviashvili contacted him after the arrest
offering the money in the safe in return for dropping or reducing some
of the charges against him.
Ali
Aydin, an articled
clerk acting for Mr Rekhviashvili, and Sen-Constable Darrin Flett tried
to persuade the St Kilda detective to a lesser charge, the court heard.
Mr Aydin and
Sen-Constable Flett allegedly invited Sen-Constable Trewavas to a
kickboxing match at the Vodaphone Arena a month later, on July 26.
More
|
| April
23, 2001 |
Nixon
sworn in
Christine
Nixon sworn in as Chief Commissioner.
|
| May
2001
|
Williams
says police threatened to kill him
In an interview with the ABC's Jonathon Holmes, Carl
Williams claimed that in May 2001 he was subjected to death threats by a
Drug Squad detective.
"I'm taken from there past the police
station down to a park, where I'm told I'm gonna be killed."
"This is where you're gonna die, be
killed."
" There was a big shipping container next to
where they were pointing at."
|
| July
26, 2001 |
Police
allegedly paid off at kick-boxing night
Reyn
Rekhaviashili, arrested during an early morning drug raid on his hotel
room in St Kilda on April 16, met a detective and allegedly handed over
$5000 as part of a $35,000 bribe, as police secretly taped them.
Reyn
Rekhaviashili, 27, of Carnegie, was allegedly caught with 1157 pills-
some containing ecstasy, others methamphetamine and ketamine - in
packets on his person and in his room safe as well as $35,000 in cash.
Ali
Aydin, an articled clerk, and Sen-Constable Darrin Flett had allegedly
invited another police officer, Sen-Constable Steve Trewavas, to a
kickboxing match at the Vodaphone Arena.
Sen-Constable Trewavas
later told a court Mr Rekhviashvili contacted him after the April 16
arrest offering the money in the safe in return for dropping or reducing
some of the charges against him.
Ali Aydin, acting for Mr Rekhviashvili, and Sen-Constable Darrin Flett tried
to persuade the St Kilda detective to a lesser charge, the court heard.
Sen-Constable Flett, who
went on paid leave, Mr Aydinand Mr Rekhviashvili will face a
preliminary hearing of the bribery allegations in July 2002.
|
| July
30, 2001 |
Drug
squad detective sergeant Rosenes arrested in Caulfield ecstasy raids
Police seized a massive
quantity of ecstasy tablets in a series of raids in the Caulfield area.
One of the men arrested was drug squad detective sergeant Malcolm
Rosenes.
Sectors of the community
and the Victorian government called for an inquiry into the drug squad
after investigations relating to
Rosenes revealed that members of the squad were in deed operating their own drug
cartel.
|
| August
1, 2001 |
Former
drug squad detective Stephen Paton arrested
Former detective, Steven
Paton (who recently resigned from the force) was arrested for
trafficking and possessing a commercial quantity of drugs.
After the arrest, it
became evident that there would be a review of the drug squad in the
near future.
|
| August
1, 2001 |
Former
drug squad detective kidnapped in speed grab
Former drug squad
detective-sergeant, Russell
Bassett was kidnapped in a pseudoephedrine heist. Police command
said that
Bassett had not been a member of the drug squad for some years.
In the states biggest
drug robbery to date, about 125kg of pure pseudoephedrine - commonly
used in the production of amphetamines- was stolen in a daylight raid.
The drugs had an estimated street value of $10m.
|
| August
4, 2001 |
Ombudsman
to oversee detective inquiry
The Herald Sun reported
that Victoria's 784 Detectives will come under close scrutiny in
Victoria's most serious Police Inquiry.
Random integrity tests,
checks on the use of informants, limited tenure in crime squads,
performance contracts and a management overhaul will also be considered
as part of the inquiry. The Inquiry will be overseen by Dr.
Barry Perry and will take several months.
|
| August
10, 2001 |
Former
drug squad detective Stephen Paton bailed
Jailed former drug squad
detective, Steven
Paton was granted bail on four counts of possessing commercial
quantities of illicit drugs.
Paton's
solicitor Joe
Gullaci, told the magistrates court that his clients life had been
threatened after he was remanded into custody the previous week.
"After twenty years
in the police force there are a lot of people in jail who would like to
get their hands on him", Gullaci
said.
One charge was that
Paton and another jailed former drug squad detective Malcolm
Rosenes, allegedly duped a Mitcham chemical company into selling
them illicit chemicals.
|
| August
13, 2001 |
Five
men arrested over $130million hash haul
Three men imported almost
three tonnes of hashish with a street value of between $132 and $147
million into Melbourne.
A drug importation outfit
who used false names to set up bogus mobile phone accounts and a front
company to import cannabis resin hidden beneath false floors in two
shipping containers.
The containers, also
carrying marble tiles, were picked up from East Swanson docks and
trucked to a yard on the Hume Hwy at Campbellfield, arriving about
10.15pm.
Federal police watched
five of the men as they arrived at the yard, driving trucks and
utilities and unloaded the marble tiles before breaking into the
containers false floors.
The men were arrested
trying to flee or hide in the yard.
Tony Crnac, 34 of Banbara
Court, Sunshine; Paul Pratico, 32, of Cartwright St, Oak Park; David
Ciampoli, 42, of Barva Drive, East Keilor; Jessie Franco, 32, of Pascoe
Vale Rd, Essendon; and Robert Cetranglo, 32, of Buckley St, Essendon,
were all arrested on the night.
They face charges of
knowingly importing a commercial quantity of hashish and possessing a
commercial amount of hashish.
Two more of the gang were
arrested and charged on August 30.
|
| August
21, 2001 |
Report
reveals 110 police charged in 22 months.
The Herald Sun reported
that more than 110 Victoria Police officers were charged with criminal
offences in just 22 months. Officers had been charged with rape, sexual
assault, fraud, illegal firearms sales, drink driving and tampering with
evidence.
Drug dealing charges were
also issued on at least three occasions, said Ethical Standards
Department document, released to the public under FOI.
Since 1988, 63 officers
have been dismissed, with 153 members brought before disciplinary
heading and 270 charges proved.
One case saw an
inspector fined after a firearm disappeared from a police safe.
|
| August
24, 2001 |
Tony
Mokbel and Lewis Moran arrested in Port Melbourne drug bust
A Ferrari and a penthouse
were seized in Victoria's biggest drug raid.
Drugs confiscated in a
raid at Beacon Cove, Port Melbourne, included ephedrine capable of
making 40 million amphetamine pills which could be sold as fake ecstasy.
The Herald-Sun reported
that men who lived in multi-million dollar mansions, invested in
property development and were racetrack punters were among those
charged.
Those arrested included Tony
Mokbel 32, and Lewis
Moran. He is the father of notorious underworld figure, Jason
Moran.
Also to front the court
was a Fawkner man who acted as a gopher. He had been arrested two days
previously and bailed. The man was released again on a $250,000 surety.
A Kew brother and sister
aged 32 and 33 were remanded in custody on ecstasy trafficking charges
to re-appear in January 2002.
|
| August
30, 2001 |
Neil
O'Loughlin to retire
The Herald Sun reported
that Neil O'Loughlin was to retire from the police force when his term as
Deputy Commissioner in February 2002.
Assistant commissioners
Noel Perry and Noel Ashby are the favourites to assume O'Loughlin's
role.
Former drug squad
detective Malcolm
Rosenes was bailed after almost a month on remand. Legal
representatives for
Rosenes argued that their client's life was under constant danger whilst he was
incarcerated alongside some of the states most dangerous criminals.
Rosenes alleged that former Bandidos Motorcycle Club national Secretary
Robert
Sloan had put a jail house contract on
Rosenes life.
Sloan received bail the following day,
|
| August
30, 2001 |
500
ecstasy tablets stolen from police complex
The Sunday Age reported
that police discovered that up to 500 ecstasy tablets worth $25,000 had
been stolen from protected areas of the St Kilda Road police complex and
another batch of designer pills was missing from Moonee Ponds police
station.
In the raid at St Kilda
Road, the drugs, seized in an organised crime squad investigation were
taken from the exhibit management unit, set up to secure court exhibits.
It is believed that a swipe-card was used to allow access to the drugs.
It was also revealed that
in early 2001, a similar number of ecstasy tablets had disappeared from
Moonee Ponds. Members of the ethical standards department said that they
believed the crimes were committed by police.
|
| August
30, 2001 |
Two
more arrested for hash
Federal Agents charged
two brothers over the importation of hashish worth over $130 million
after they originally detained five others on August 13.
Arrested where Rahib
Karam, 35, after a search of his Brunswick Rd, Brunswick home and the
North Melbourne offices of his business, Freight Trade International.
His brother, Nabil Karam,
30, of Elizabeth St, Coburg, was also arrested.
The brothers were charged
with knowingly importing a commercial amount of hashish.
The preliminary hearing
before Magistrate Raffaele Barberio begins in May 2002.
|
| August
31, 2001 |
Bandido's
biker freed
Bandido's motorcycle Club
National Secretary, Robert
Sloan successfully appealed to the states highest court after former
drug squad detectives Stephen Paton
and Malcolm Malcolm Rosenes
were arrested.
Sloan was freed from jail when the Court of Appeals took the rare step of
releasing a prisoner whose convictions for serious drug offences were
based on the evidence of a drug squad officer recently charged of
similar crimes.
The evidence of Paton
and other arresting drug squad officers was seriously queried by the
Court of Appeal.
|
| September
5, 2001 |
Jason
Moran freed
Jason
Moran was released from Fulham prison.
In
an unusual move, the Parole Board allowed him to leave Australia with
his family because of fears for his life.
He
returned to Melbourne on November 20 to
give evidence at the hearing into the shooting of Alphonse
Gangitano due to start the following January.
|
| September
6, 2001 |
Alleged
Silk-Miller killer bailed to face Supreme Court
Jason
Manuel Ghiller, accused of taking part in 66 armed robberies, was
bailed to stand trial in the Supreme Court.
It was alleged that Ghiller
played an active role in the hold-ups, mostly on restaurants, but his
older accomplice was more aggressive of the pair.
Ghiller was also charged surrounding incidents which led to two police
officers being shot at in Hallam in 1994.
Many of the robberies
occurred during the period in which the suspects of the Silk/
Miller shootings were apparently perpetrating similar crimes.
One of them was Bendali
'Michael' Debs, Ghiller's
uncle.
Ghiller was bailed on strict conditions including a 10.30pm. curfew.
|
| September
7, 2001 |
Tony
Mokbel bailed
High profile businessman,
Tony Mokbel, charged in late August with importing 550kg of amphetamines,
was bailed by the Magistrates Court.
|
| September 20,
2001 |
Massive
ecstasy raids across Melbourne
23 homes across Melbourne
were raided as part of the ongoing drug squad investigation into the
manufacture of ecstasy.
15 people were charged
with 78 drug manufacturing and trafficking offences. Search warrants
were executed on the properties resulted in more than 6000 ecstasy
tablets and 25kg of white powder, suspected of being either ecstasy or
amphetamines being seized. A police spokesman said that $1,000 in cash
and drug manufacturing equipment were also impounded.
Convicted bank robber,
Andrew Hodson, 32, appeared in court accused of buying 1500 ecstasy
tablets while on parole. Hodson was still serving a seven-year sentence
for the armed hold-up of a Hawthorn bank when he alleged to have bought
the ecstasy from an under cover policeman.
Sen-Det David Miechel
told the Melbourne magistrates court that Hodson was arrested as part of
the same operation that led to charges being laid against Tony
Mokbel.
|
| September 23,
2001 |
Kizon
seen with Eagles footballers
Police observed west
Australian crime figure John
Kizon.
Kizon and West Coast Eagle's players Ben Cousins and Michael Gardiner,
socialising together in Melbourne during Grand Final week the previous
year. Cousins and Gardiner were in Melbourne to attend the Brownlow,
which was held at the Crown complex.
The two were seen
drinking with
Kizon at Fidel's Cigar Bar later that night.
Police surveillance
officers reported the three men were seen at Crown Casino at the same
time and were "obviously friends".
|
| September 24,
2001 |
Silk-Miller
accused face committal hearing
The two men accused of
the murders of police officers Gary
Silk and Rodney Miller and a string of armed robberies, faced a
committal hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
The court heard of a plan
the suspects had concocted to kill more officers to confuse
investigators.
|
| October
9, 2001 |
Former
detectives give evidence in Fraser case while facing charges
Former drug squad
detectives, Stephen
Paton and Malcolm
Rosenes appeared to give evidence in the drug trafficking case
against Werner Roberts and former criminal lawyer Andrew
Fraser.
Paton and Rosenes were on bail facing similar unrelated charges themselves. Werner Roberts
had accused the officers had blackmailed him into the drug importation
in a sting to have
Fraser jailed.
|
| October
24, 2001 |
Fraser
plea suppression lifted
Judge Leo Hart lifted a suppression order
on Andrew
Fraser's guilty pleas to being
knowingly concerned in the importation and also of trafficking cocaine
and ecstasy.
|
| October
25, 2001 |
Jockey
Cassidy linked to drug baron through tapes
It was revealed that a top jockey was
being investigated over alleged links to Tony Mockbel who was facing multi million dollar drug charges.
The jockey is believed to feature on
secret police tapes recorded during Victoria's biggest drug
investigation.
The following day, controversial jockey Jim
Cassidy refused to say whether or not he knew
Mockbel and that he wasn't sure if he was one of the men on the tapes.
|
| November
13, 2001 |
Silk-Miller
accused to stand trial
Bendali Debs and Jason
Roberts were committed to stand trial for the Silk-Miller
police murders. Debs was remanded to face court later in 2001 while
Roberts was expected to seek bail.
|
| November
13, 2001 |
Carl
Williams refused bail
Carl
Williams, arrested
with his father, George in a November 1999 police raid on a home in
Katandra Crescent, Broadmeadows, was refused bail by the Melbourne
Magistrates court.
The raid netted police
one of the states biggest amphetamine hauls. Retrieved were a pill
press, about 30,000 tablets, a loaded pistol and 6.95kg of powders
containing methylamphetamine, ketamine and pseudoephedrine. Police
estimated the hall to have a street value of $20 million.
In late 1999, a man who
was part of a father son amphetamine operation was shot in the stomach
in Broadmeadows. It was claimed by detectives that the two owed the
notorious Moran
brothers, Jason and Mark, almost half a million dollars and that the
thirty year-old son was shot. It is alleged screams of 'no Jason, no'
were heard at the time.
|
| November
15, 2001 |
$100,000
for Benvenuto murder info
Police offered a $100,000
reward for information leading to finding Frank
Benvenuto's killer.
Police said that they
believe a woman walking her dog in the area could possibly help them
with their investigations.
|
| November
17, 2001 |
Drug
squad faces axe
Nick Papps, writing for
the Sunday Herald-Sun, revealed that the drug squad was facing the axe
after a decade of corruption allegations.
Police watchdog, Barry
Perry said that he believed disbanding the squad may be needed to
stamp out corruption. The findings of a review of the drug squad, led
by Perry
was expected to be released within a few days.
|
| November
20, 2001 |
Moran
returns
Jason
Moran returned to Melbourne after being allowed to leave the country
when he was released from Fulham Prison the previous September,
Moran saying he feared for his life. He had been jailed on assault charges
arising from a night club brawl involving underworld associate, Alphonse
Gangitano.
|
| November
25, 2001 |
Missing
drug squad pistol returned
The Sunday report also
stated that a 9mm pistol taken from a drug squad safe had been returned
with a different barrel and firing pin.
|
| November
27, 2001 |
Mokbel
brother arrested
Milad
Mokbel was arrested in relation to the same crime for which his brother,
alleged drug king-pin, Tony
was awaiting charges.
|
| December 17,
2001 |
Guilty plea to
kidnap charge
Rocco Arico and
Terrence Chimirri pleaded guilty to kidnapping for ransom.
The
court heard that murdered gangster Dino Dibra was the
architect of the daylight kidnapping on August 2, 1999 in Ardeer in
which the victim was pistol-whipped, bashed and forced into the boot of a car.
|
| December
20, 2001 |
Jail for kidnappers
Kidnappers Rocco
Arico, Terrence Chimirri and
Sajih Kocoglu were
jailed for more than four years.
Chimirri appeared overjoyed at
his prison term and celebrated loudly as he was led to the County Court cells.
Chimirri and his two co-accused
high-fived each other as they left the court to begin their sentences.
Judge Graham Anderson said
Dino Dibra wanted money he believed the victim owed
him.
The judge said the others
were led in the scheme by Dibra.
Judge Anderson jailed
Arico, who was already serving time for an attempted murder charge, for four and
a half years, increasing his minimum remaining term to more than seven years'
jail.
Chimirri was ordered to
serve a minimum of two years' jail.
Kocoglu was also jailed
for four and a half years.
|
| December
22, 2001 |
St
Kilda cop shop guns still a mystery
The Herald Sun reported
that despite a 19 month internal investigation into pistols, drugs and
other items found at the St.
Kilda police station in May 2000, the origin of the stash remained a
mystery.
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