Some of the main suspects in Victoria's underworld war are trying to recruit fresh troops inside Melbourne's prisons, according to Corrections Commissioner Kelvin Anderson.
Notorious Melbourne underworld figure Keith Faure has turned on an associate and admitted being present at the shooting murder of crime patriarch Lewis Moran, a court was told today.
Chopper: Oh, Keithy. I always thought I was a good bloke.
Keithy George: Ha. What did you ever do that was good?
Chopper: Well, I bashed you. That was good, wasn't it? It was good for a bit of a giggle, anyway.
Chopper: You don't much like me, do you Keithy?
Goussis remained silent during the brief hearing today, but lodged a complaint about his imprisonment under 23-hour-lockdown at Barwon Prison through his lawyer, Maria Priolo.
"My client just wished to express for the record he has experienced torturous conditions in custody for the past seven months," she said.
A US-style special prosecutor and unprecedented police powers will be used to attack organised crime in Victoria, but civil liberties groups claim the proposal is dangerously flawed.
The new officer, with the title chief examiner, will have coercive powers and can demand answers from organised crime suspects. Self-incrimination will no longer be accepted as a reason for not answering questions.
Brisbane Lions chairman Graeme Downie reacted angrily yesterday when Lions triple-premiership player Chris Johnson was named by a radio station as having links to members of the Melbourne underworld.
AFL triple premiership player Chris Johnson has been linked to a man arrested over three Melbourne gangland murders.
Brisbane Lions' star Johnson and Alfonse Traglia have been close friends and at one point last year spoke almost daily.
Traglia last month was charged with the murders of drug boss Jason Moran and his friend Pasquale Barbaro in June last year at an Essendon North children's football clinic.
The Herald Sun does not suggest Johnson was ever involved in any criminal behaviour. The spotlight on Melbourne's underworld has also uncovered other relationships between prominent footballers and gangland identities.
They include:
THE brother of a rising AFL star linked to accused drug boss Carl Williams.
A STAR midfielder who has been a friend of an armed robber who has come under Purana notice.
RICHMOND player Ty Zantuck who is a friend of the Moran family and was at the funerals of Jason Moran and his father Lewis.
FORMER AFL star Wayne Johnston who attended the funeral of Jason Moran and was a friend of his brother Mark, who was murdered in June, 2000.
Traglia is in the top security Acacia unit of Barwon Prison, near Geelong.
Chris Johnson played in Brisbane's premiership triumphs of 2001, 2002 and 2003 and has won all-Australian selection.
A highly-skilled and courageous player, he started his career with Fitzroy and headed north when the clubs merged in 1996.
An alleged crime boss charged with conspiring to kill Melbourne underworld figure Carl Williams today lost a bid to be freed on bail.
But in refusing the application, Supreme Court judge Justice Bernard Teague said 52-year-old Mario Condello's prison conditions were "unacceptable".
Justice Teague said the "particular difficulty in communicating with lawyers is particularly to be condemned".
Condello is facing charges of inciting and conspiring to kill Williams, his father George Williams and an unidentified bodyguard.
The player has been seen with members of one of the warring groups and was spotted by surveillance police while he was associating with gangsters at a five-star Melbourne hotel.
THE Carlton Crew criminal gang was losing the underworld war and needed to wipe out the rival Williams clan, a court heard yesterday.
"I think it's all going to die down . . . I think the other side, they're too strong. They've won," he allegedly said.
Mr Condello allegedly offered the hitman $150,000 a head for the slayings and said there would be no peace until Carl Williams was "put in a hole".
Roberta Williams, wife of Carl Williams, was seated in the public gallery of the court to hear claims Mr Condello gave the hitman advice on where to find her relatives and how to kill them.
PUBLICATION of a book written by gangster widow Judy Moran has been delayed.
The book, which was expected to be released this year, will hit bookshop shelves early next year.
Mrs Moran has lost two sons and a husband to Melbourne's gangland wars of the past six years and those deaths are expected to be a major focus of the book, entitled Another World.
Anti Drug guy: "I lost my job, then my car, then my house, then my kids. Don't do drugs."
Billy Hicks: Well, I'm definitely not doing them with you, fuck! Man, you're bumming me out, get him out of here! Who invited Mr. Doom over, get that guy out of here!
Mrs Moran's husband, Lewis, was murdered at Brunswick in March this year, Jason was gunned down at Essendon North in June last year and another son, Mark, was shot dead at Aberfeldie in June, 2000.
A MAN accused of conspiring to kill alleged underworld figure Carl Williams was taking part in a charade, a court heard yesterday.
Mario Condello, 52, believed Mr Williams was plotting his death, the Supreme Court was told.
So Mr Condello led a would-be hitman, who was actually a police informer, to think he wanted Mr Williams dead so he could gather information on him, the court heard.
During Mr Condello's bail application, defence lawyer Anthony Howard, QC, said the case against his client was weak and based on the word of an unreliable police informer.
His lawyer, Tony Howard, QC, told Justice Bernard Teague that the Crown case was weak and based on "inaudible and fragmented" recordings of conversations made covertly by the informer, known as 166. The informer had had drugs charges against him dropped after he helped police, Mr Howard said.
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| Lady MacWilliams:Out DAMNED SPOT! Photo: Michael Clayton-Jones, The Age |
The wife of alleged underworld identity Carl Williams has been accused of inciting the murder of crime patriarch Lewis Moran.
The accusation could not be reported until Roberta Williams, 35, yesterday pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to drug trafficking charges.
A protected witness, who is in hiding with a new identity, has promised to give prosecution evidence against Roberta Williams implicating her in encouraging Moran's murder.
These men tend to keep low profiles, and while they enjoy the trappings of success they don't flaunt their wealth.
In an underworld increasingly dominated by warring drug syndicates and fuelled by a massive market in illegal amphetamines, these men now hold sway. To these criminals, respect becomes more important than revenue. And violence is often the first option.
A witness crucial to exposing alleged corruption in Victoria's police force has been found shot dead along with his wife in their Kew home.
Hodson was waiting to be dealt with in the Supreme Court after indicating last month that he would plead guilty over offences allegedly committed with two former detectives, Detective Sergeant Paul Dale, 34, and Detective Senior Constable David Miechel, 33. It is believed he had also agreed to co-operate with anti-corruption police on other matters.
GANGLAND killing taskforce detectives have tried to question Greg Domaszewicz about Melbourne's underworld murders.
The Herald Sun has learned Mr Domaszewicz spoke to suspected underworld hitman Andrew "Benji" Veniamin just two hours before he was shot dead in Carlton's La Porcella restaurant on March 23.
Mr Domaszewicz is also a close associate of alleged drug dealer Carl Williams and his wife, Roberta. Mr Williams was Veniamin's boss.
But Mr Domaszewicz - the babysitter who was acquitted over the 1997 murder of Moe toddler Jaidyn Leskie - refused to talk to police.
It has come to light that police believe Veniamin had once been a loyal associate of the man charged with his murder, Dominic "Mick" Gatto. Investigators believe that Veniamin, a suspect in at least five of the slayings, had operated as a paid assassin for both sides, picking up $100,000 for each successful hit.
When this reporter met Veniamin recently, it was hard to believe that here was Melbourne's most prolific contract killer. He was a small, lively man, with soft brown eyes that darted away if you got too close. His hands seemed too soft and delicate to be those of a killer. But for the tattoos, he was like any ethnic kid you might see in a hot Torana on a Saturday night. The silver Mercedes-Benz he was driving when he died wasn't his. It was a loaner from an associate too scared to ask for it back, police sources said.
Some have called for a royal commission, others for drastic police powers and the nostalgic for a return to the old days when detectives, not gangsters, were said to run Melbourne.And there, my dear friends, is the problem. If crims wanna knock other crims, if targets don't want protection, if victims and friends won't talk, then there is sweet FA the police can do.
The calls smack of frustration more than common sense. The only people to benefit from a royal commission would be the lawyers, who would be paid a fortune, and sunglass manufacturers, who would provide the latest mafia inspired eye-wear for colourful witnesses. Royal commissions provide headlines and non-admissible testimony.
Those who want to return to the good old days need a reality check. Police have never had a good record in solving underworld murders. When witnesses won't talk, potential victims won't take protection and killers won't stop, then police have a problem.
CORMAN: "Well, you see Willard... In this war, things get confused out there, power, ideals, the old morality, and practical military necessity. Out there with these natives it must be a temptation to be god. Because there's a conflict in every human heart between the rational and the irrational, between good and evil. The good does not always triumph. Sometimes the dark side overcomes what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature. Every man has got a breaking point. You and I have.
In July, Lewis Moran was granted bail with a $1 million surety on charges of trafficking commercial quantities of drugs.
CRANE UP to the waist of the unknown man. He pulls a pack of cigarettes out of one pocket and a strange antique lighter from the other. It is gold, with a clasp that folds down over the flint. The man flicks up the clasp with his thumb and strikes it with his index finger. It is a fluid motion,somewhat showy. Keaton looks up at the man. A look of realization crosses his face. It is followed by frustration, anger, and finally resignation.KEYSER SOZE: How are you, Keaton?He spits the name out like it was poison.
KEATON: I'd have to say my spine was broken, Keyser.
The man puts the lighter back in his pocket and reaches under his jacket. He produces a stainless .38 revolver.
KEYSER SOZE: Ready?The hand with the gun turns over, turning the gold watch on its wrist upward. The sound of sirens is closer now. Headed this way.
KEATON: What time is it?KEYSER SOZE: Twelve thirty.Keaton grimaces bitterly and nods. He turns his head away and takes another drag. The hand with the gun waits long enough for Keaton to enjoy his last drag before pulling the trigger.
GUNSHOT
The sound of Keaton's body slumping onto the deck.
Williams sat one row from the front with an associate, Terry Chimirri, who may have been auditioning for the vacant role of bodyguard. Faruk Orman, a man present in La Porcella the day Benji died, was also present. He has declined to help police flesh out the events of last Tuesday.
A police spokesman said two people were shot shortly before 6.35pm.And this person knows who it was, and will be telling their associates as soon as possible. Of course Carl Williams is making hay out of this and really flipping the bird at the opposition. He is using offense as defense- a brilliant tactical move at this time (and MOST unexpected we might say). For all his faults, Carl is a great tactician, in the true Machiavellian tradition:
The spokesman said one person died at the scene while the other was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious condition.
"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared..."
"A prince should therefore have no other aim or thought, nor take up any other thing for his study but war and it organization and discipline, for that is the only art that is necessary to one who commands."
-"The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli
COLONEL KURTZ (on tape): We must kill them. We must incinerate them. Pig after pig, cow after cow, village after village, army after army. And they call me an assasin. What do you call it when the assasins accuse the assasin ? They lie.. they lie and we have to be merciful for those who lie. Those nabobs. I hate them. How I hate them...
Kilgore picks up the radio :KILGORE: Goddamn, I want that treeline bombed !
FAC PILOT: Roger. Standby.
KILGORE: Bomb them into the stoneage, son.
FAC PILOT: They need some napalm on that treeline down there. Can you put it down there ?
F-5 PILOT: Roger. We'll suppress some mortar fire off the treeline down there.
FAC PILOT: Roger. Give all you got and bring all your ships back.
KILGORE: Don't worry, we'll have this place cleaned up and ready for us in a jiffy son, don't you worry.
FAC PILOT: Jets will bomb in 30 seconds. Get your people back and heads down. This is gonna be a big one.
A former law clerk threatened to sue a police officer if he did not reduce the number of criminal charges against his client, a jury heard yesterday.
The County Court was told that Helmut Kirsch, along with another law clerk, Ali Aydin, had threatened Detective Senior Constable Benjamin Archbold in July 2001 in a bid to influence the criminal case against Housam Zayat.
Prosecutor Andy Moore said Aydin and Kirsch were trying to frighten Mr Archbold so he would "go soft with their client".
Benjamin Archbold also reportedly had been threatened by Nikolai Radev, a known criminal who was shot dead earlier this month.
The threats to Mr Archbold, who moved to the Gold Coast from Victoria, were apparently made by Radev during a court hearing well before his shooting.
Witnesses to the fatal shooting of underworld figure Andrew "Benji" Veniamin may be forced to give evidence, after police detectives today asked a court for compulsory examinations.
[snip]
Police today lodged an application in the Melbourne Magistrates Court in an attempt to try and break the notorious criminal code of silence around Melbourne's 23 unsolved gangland murders.
The application would require witnesses to be questioned in court at a later date."
Prosecutor Geoff Horgan, SC, told the court that four men - who are believed to have been present at the time of the shooting or immediately before it - had refused to make statements.
"It is believed a number of people were observers of events shortly prior to the shooting taking place and those are the people some of whom were in the vicinity or in the restaurant shortly prior," he said.
He said that Ronald Bongetti, Faruk Orman, Steve Kaya and Geoffrey Reading had refused, three times, to make a statement to the homicide squad investigating the murder.
Hizir Ibery Ferman, 22, of Port Melbourne, and Robert Daniel Musso, 25, of Mill Park, were on parole on December 19 last year when they were pulled over by the police Special Operations Group in suburban Reservoir and found to be carrying a semi-automatic pistol and .38 calibre revolver.
Judge Tom Wodak sentenced the pair to 12 months in jail to be served cumulatively with remaining time on previous sentences for armed robbery and attempted armed robbery.
As they were led from the court, Ferman turned to a Purana Taskforce detective and shouted: "You reckon 12 months is going to stop me, you dog".
Musso added "You fucking rat".
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| RIP Benji: Carl carries Andrew "Benji" Veniamin this morning.Photo: Jason South, The Age |
Reporters covering the funeral were attacked by a group of youths who pelted them with eggs and other objects.
One cameraman was also hit by a golf ball. He was not seriously injured.
The media was ushered to the end of the street by friends of Veniamin.
Those who strayed were told in no uncertain terms to get back with the rest of the pack.
VENIAMIN. _ Andrew. Andrew, one of lifes finest, what a pleasure to have known you. I will remember all the good times we had.
Gone but never forgotten_ Your friend and comrade
always, Victor.
A magistrate yesterday refused a police application to take a DNA sample from a prime suspect in the Jason Moran murder to compare to genetic material on the gun dropped near the murder scene.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Dan Muling ruled that police evidence linking underworld figure Victor Brincat to the scene of Moran's murder and another underworld slaying was not strong enough to warrant the compulsory forensic test.
Brincat, 43, and alleged criminal associate Thomas Hentschel, 41, are behind bars, charged with the October 2003 murder of former kickboxer and amphetamines dealer Michael Ronald Marshall, 38.
they don't believe the war ended with Benji's death. Just days ago they learnt that some criminals were planning an attack on Williams. And while Williams remains philosophical on a potential ambush he is not without friends.
The head of the Purana Taskforce denies the investigation into Melbourne's underworld slayings has been tainted by corruption.
Two police officers have been suspended amid allegations of corruption, one of whom used to be in charge of monitoring phone taps.
The officers are not connected to a separate probe into corruption within the former drug squad, which has so far seen two detecitves jailed and another dozen charged.
It is understood the move forced the Purana Taskforce to shift its phone tap operations to the Ethical Standards Department.
VICTORIAN building unions are under investigation for extorting money from contractors and employers in return for industrial peace, a report tabled in Federal Parliament yesterday said.
At the building industry royal commission in 2002 he was named as a standover man - and alternatively as an "industrial consultant" - over his role in a site agreement at the National Gallery of Victoria redevelopment project.
Gatto, who runs a company called Arbitrations and Mediations Pty Ltd and is also believed to have an interest in a crane company, protested at being labelled an underworld figure.
VENIAMIN. _ Andrew. 16.11.1975_23.3.2004
My mind is numb, but my memory is clear of all the times we shared. I will miss everything about our friendship, especially my daily phone calls "Hello my friend". The promises I made to you my friend as you made to me if the tables were ever turned, I promise you my precious little friend. Our love and our friendship was something very rare, I loved you and always will. You once told me we were no different than a brother and a sister and that it doesnt have to be blood that joins you as family because we were that. My friend Andrew, you will always be in my heart and memory, because the times we shared would never be forgotten. My heart is broken, you will never be replaced. Fly high in the sky my precious angel. I love you always and forever. Condolences to the family. _ Roberta Williams.
Uncle Andrew, I will miss our holidays in Yarrawonga, but more than anything I will miss you. I love you, I will never forget you. My Mummy and Daddy will keep your memory alive. Always _ Your precious
little Dhakota Williams.
VENIAMIN. _ Benji. What can I say. You made me welcome and showed me kindness, friendship and good times and I am forever grateful.
There is only one place for men in suits. All shall be done for you. Goodbye buddy.
Save me a seat. _ Kaiser Sozef.
Deepest condolences to all your family. Rest in peace
SCENE: In a police station, VERBAL is being questioned about who the mysterious character "Keyser Soze" is...VERBAL: He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. One story the guys told me - the story I believe - was from his days in Turkey. There was a petty gang of Hungarians that wanted their own mob. They realized that to be in power you didn't need guns or money or even numbers. You just needed the will to do what the other guy wouldn't. After a while they come to power, and then they come after Soze He was small time then, just running dope, they say...
SCENE:Three of the Hungarians come bursting into Keyser Soze's home. They grab his five children and round them up in the front room. One of the men grabs his wife and back-hands her across the face.VERBAL: They come to his home in the afternoon looking for his business. They find his wife and kids in the house and decide to wait for Soze.
He comes home to his wife raped and his children screaming. The Hungarians knew he was tough. Not to be trifled with. So they let him know they meant business.
SCENE: They kill his child in front of him.
The Real Keyser: Kevin Spacey plays the mysterious Verbal Kent and...? VERBAL: They tell Soze they want his territory - all his business. Soze looks over the faces of his family... Then he showed these men of will what will really was.
SCENE: SUDDENLY, Soze pulls out a pistol and shoots the two men with guns. He turns and aims at the third man holding his child. The man threatens to cut the child's throat, slicing just enough to draw blood.
SOZE FIRES.
The stunned Hungarian watches the child fall from his arms.
Soze turns the pistol on the next child, then the next and the next. He kills his children one by one in front of the Hungarian.VERBAL: He tells him he would rather' see his family dead than live another day after this.
SCENE: SOZE walks over to his wife, crying and beaten on the floor and holds up her head. She gives him the strangest look. One of trust perhaps, saturated with fear and humiliation.
He puts the gun between her eyes and fires.VERBAL: He lets the last Hungarian go, and he goes running. He waits until his wife and kids are in the ground and he goes after the rest of the mob. He kills their kids, he kills their wives, he kills their parents and their parents' friends.
He burns down the houses they live in and the stores they work in, he kills people that owe them money. And like that he was gone. Underground. No one has ever seen him again. He becomes a myth, a spook story that criminals tell their kids at night. If you rat on your pop, Keyser Soze will get you. And nobody really ever believes.
AGENT KUJAN: Do you believe in him, Verbal?
VERBAL: Keaton always said: "I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of him." Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser SOZE.
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| Cartoon: Not exactly funny, but then death isn't a laughing matter... |
POLICE pressured the accused killer of a suspected underworld hit man to break the criminal code of silence over Melbourne's gangland murders.
OMBUDSMAN Bob Seamer said there could be links between the gangland killings and corruption in the police drug squad.
JONATHAN HOLMES: Tonight on Four Corners, the trap that was set for the speed dealers that instead has caught the Victoria Police in a tangled web of corruption.
The Melbourne underworld has been busy lately burying its dead. Whatever the myths may say, there's little honour among thieves. Drugs provide the money. Money provides the motive. There have been 22 gangland killings in the past six years. Last June, they buried Jason Moran, a member of one of Melbourne's most notorious crime families. Three years earlier, his half-brother Mark had met the same fate. But police have met the customary wall of silence - even from the man the Moran brothers are said to have shot in the stomach in 1999.
CARL WILLIAMS: They say it happened over money - that I was shot, everything like that. As I said, I don't know anything - who I was shot by, why I was shot.
JONATHAN HOLMES: You don't know who shot you?
CARL WILLIAMS: No, I don't.
JONATHAN HOLMES: Did you have your eyes shut or what?
CARL WILLIAMS: Yeah, I've got no idea who shot me. It's, you know...
JONATHAN HOLMES: It's nothing to do with you that those two men are dead now?
CARL WILLIAMS: Nothing to do with me.
JONATHAN HOLMES: Carl Williams hasn't been charged with any of Melbourne's underworld killings. But he is facing a charge of threatening to kill a policeman and two separate charges of major drug trafficking. Normally, he'd be remanded in prison to await trial. But he's free on bail. Many other people charged with major drug trafficking offences have also been set free - temporarily, at least. Among them: Milad Mokbel, charged with possessing the proceeds of crime - case struck out. His brother, Tony Mokbel, charged with trafficking and importing cocaine and hundreds of kilos of pseudoephedrine - free on bail, pending trial. Lewis Moran, Mark and Jason's father, charged with trafficking ecstasy, hashish and speed - free on bail, pending trial. David McCulloch, charged with conspiracy to traffic - free on bail, pending trial. And Carl Williams's father George, facing charges of trafficking speed - free on bail, pending trial.
GEORGE WILLIAMS: The Drug Squad are corrupt and...it was brought out that the Drug Squad WAS corrupt.
JONATHAN HOLMES: The reason - their trials have been delayed while some of the the police whose evidence would be crucial to their prosecution are themselves in prison, or facing charges, or under investigation.
JONATHAN HOLMES: ... the new Chief Commissioner ordered a review of the Drug Squad and formally put a stop to controlled chemical delivery.
CHRISTINE NIXON, CHIEF COMMISSIONER: That it occurred at all is entirely inappropriate. And so that's why as soon as I became aware of it, we stopped it. I saw it as one of the most risk...risky strategies possible, and it'll never start again in Victoria Police.
JONATHAN HOLMES: Williams is keen to portray himself as a normal family man. More importantly, he wants the chance to air allegations against the Victoria Police Drug Squad. For example, he claims that in May 2001 he was subjected to death threats by a Drug Squad detective.
CARL WILLIAMS: 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.
JONATHAN HOLMES: Carl's father George also claims to be a quiet family man with a modest bungalow, an elaborate security system and a heap of allegations about police corruption. Like many others that Four Corners heard, most can't be aired in Victoria for fear of prejudicing future trials. George Williams has already complained to the Ombudsman that the Drug Squad stole thousands of dollars from his home. The complaint was not upheld.
GEORGE WILLIAMS: They was invited into my house. They're supposed to be upholding the law and they can rob your house. The money was there. And when the police left, the money weren't there. Now, I don't know if Casper the Ghost came and got it, but...someone got it.
JONATHAN HOLMES: For years, there have been these allegations of large sums of money being stolen, of large amounts of drugs being stolen, of some criminals being greenlighted and others not. And now those kinds of allegations that was always dismissed before as just what criminals say are beginning to be believed. They are being believed by the courts, by judges, by the public. That's got to be a problem for you.
CHRISTINE NIXON: No. They're also being believed by the police. I mean, we have major resources investigating these areas now. I don't have any reason to not investigate these matters. Why would I want to cover up corruption in Victoria Police? I come from here. I don't have any reason to. And so what we're doing is throwing as many resources in the most effective manner we can at these investigations.
JONATHAN HOLMES: The Chief Commissioner insists that decisive action has already been taken. In late 2001, she disbanded the Drug Squad and replaced it with the Major Drug Investigation Division, the MDID, with new processes and systems. But she wasn't able to pick the members of the MDID with the freedom she wanted. The powerful Police Association insisted on the letter of existing employment agreements.
CHRISTINE NIXON: I think the Association, um, has a particular position to take and members to protect. I, on occasions, wish that they might think of the greater good rather than specific individuals, but that's not the way they see it.
PAUL MULLETT, SECRETARY POLICE ASSOCIATION: We don't want to get into an argument with the Chief Commissioner on this. What we want to say is with the Chief Commissioner, we supported the vast majority of the recommendations. Those recommendations were changes to work practices of the Drug Squad, issues to do with industrial agreements the Chief Commissioner herself would recognise that she has to comply with as the employer.
JONATHAN HOLMES: Peter Faris, prominent QC, former director of the National Crime Authority and populist weekly broadcaster, believes the Police Association has the Government running scared.
PETER FARIS QC: It's probably the most powerful trade union in Victoria. The Government's terrified of them. The Government should have stood behind Nixon and said, "These are the changes the Commissioner wants. They're going to happen, regardless of what the police union wants." So it's a lack of willpower on the part of the Government to stand behind the Chief Commissioner of Police. And that's a worrying thing.
The Police Association was formed in 1917 due to police concerns over poor working conditions. At this time the Victoria Police Force received the lowest rate of pay of any Force in Australia and only 17 days annual leave compared with 28 days in New South Wales. In addition, a superannuation scheme providing police with pensions on retirement had been abandoned by the State Government in 1902 and was not reintroduced until 1923.
Following its formation, the Association worked on behalf of its members to obtain improved wages and working conditions. However, it was not until 1923 that the organisation was officially recognised by the Police Regulation (Pensions) Act.
Since this time, the Association has grown in size and stature and currently negotiates with the Chief Commissioner of Police and the Ministry for Police and Emergency Services and other relevant organisations on behalf of its members.
JONATHAN HOLMES: Partially as a result of the Police Association's opposition, many members of the old Drug Squad have been retained in the new MDID. And a very recent case suggests that could be a problem. Just last September, an operation codenamed Galop was targeting a major ecstasy ring. They'd placed a house in Oakleigh East under surveillance. Inside, they believed, were large quantities of drugs or cash or both. A raid was imminent. But on the night of 27 September, the house was burgled and local police arrested two men nearby. One of them turned out to be an MDID detective, a member of the Operation Galop team and a veteran of the old Drug Squad's Unit 2. The other was his long-term police informer. They were charged with stealing a large quantity of drugs worth well over $1 million. The detective's boss, a sergeant in the MDID, has been charged as a co-conspirator. The new Assistant Commissioner (Crime) concedes that the charges have an all-too-familiar ring to them.
SIMON OVERLAND: Yes, that's right. And as you've pointed out, that matter is before the court and it's difficult, in those circumstances, for me to comment about that.
JONATHAN HOLMES: But surely...
SIMON OVERLAND: If those allegations were shown to be true - that's IF they're shown to be true - we would have to concede a mistake was made in that case.
A man with connections to Melbourne's criminal underworld was killed today in a shooting outside a restaurant in inner Melbourne.
The victim, known as Andrew "Benji" Veniamin, was shot at a Carlton restaurant, police sources told The Age.
Ambulance spokesman James Howe said the emergency service received a call to attend the scene of a shooting near the corner of Faraday and Rathdowne streets shortly before 3pm (AEDT).
Police refused to confirm the identity of the victim but said a man was being held in custody over the incident.
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| Crime scene: White fingerprint dust litters the restaurant table near where underworld figure Andrew Veniamin was killed as police warned his associate, accused drug baron Carl Williams, he may be the next victim of Melbourne's underworld war. Photos: Angela Wylie, THE AGE |
The day after his arrest Williams appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court. One friend winked and called out to Williams to keep his chin up. The friend, known as Benji, has been implicated in several unsolved murders.
Carl Williams' constant companion, Andrew "Benji" Veniamin, is also a suspect in several gangland hits. But once again, according to Roberta, everyone has it wrong. She says Benji is just misunderstood: "He's a good quiet guy who’s great with kids, loves the kids. I don't leave my children with anybody and I would leave them with Andrew before I would leave them with anybody else."
Well, his "non-bodyguard-just-a-good-friend" days are over forever.
Adam Shand from "Sunday" "Andrew stays very close to Carl, is he a bodyguard?" She replied: "No, Andrew's a friend and a good friend at that. We go shopping together Andrew and I … and we go shopping with the kids. He's certainly not a bodyguard."
ADAM SHAND: And who might be next to go in this tragic comedy is the question all the underworld is asking. Could it be Lewis Moran, the patriarch who has lost his sons, Mark and Jason? It might be Carl Williams or maybe “Benji” will take a bullet for his boss. Williams is obviously well aware of the precarious position he is now in.
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| Carl Williams. In one of the more bizarre moments following Benji's death, he flagged down a passing motorist (unknown to him) and got them to drive him away. He got out and then hid in the toilets of a service station. Is this the action of a tough guy gangster, or a man running scared? |
Benji's name has been mentioned as the killer of Mark Moran but it didn't stop him placing a death notice in the Herald Sun that read "You are a true sincere gentleman never to be forgotten - Love Benji".
Carl Williams, another well-known underworld figure who is on bail after being charged with threatening to kill a policeman and his partner and with drug offences, appeared at the scene some time after the shooting.
Reporters attempted to question Williams who ran off and locked himself in a toilet at a nearby service station before being whisked away by a friend who arrived in a car.
It is believed the man helping police with their inquiries is Mick Gatto, a former boxer and an associate of Jason Moran and Graham Kinniburgh, both of whom were gunned down last year.This doesn't have all the hallmarks of a hit (more on that below). It was very public, an argument involved and then a shooting. At a guess I'd say it was spontaneous or an unlucky coincidence. It seems that one group (Williams et al) kicked off this round of killing and can't finish the job. Carl is alone without Brincat and Benji. Will he act alone now? His bolt to the toilets shows he won't. He's either dead or nothing.
Police say two men got into an argument inside the restaurant moments before the shooting.
"Mr Gatto and friends were eating a late lunch and sipping coffees about 2.40pm at La Porcella restaurant.
Veniamin, known in underworld circles as Benji, double-parked his sports car and ran into the restaurant on the corner of Faraday and Rathdowne streets.
According to witnesses, Veniamin confronted Mr Gatto, an underworld heavyweight and former boxer widely known as "Mick" and a staunch supporter of the Moran clan and friend of Kinniburgh."
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| Andrew 'Benji' Veniamen- dead at 28. |
Herald Sun:
"Yesterday the lunch crowd at the restaurant, at the corner of Rathdowne and Faraday streets, had almost petered out by 2.30pm.
One insider described the regular patron as "tense" in the moments leading to the shooting.
"He wasn't his usual self," the source said.
"Mick is a pretty jolly fellow, but he wasn't as friendly as he normally is.
"He was very serious looking. I don't know if he was looking for something to happen. People here are always looking over their shoulder."
About 2.40pm Veniamin double-parked outside the restaurant, leaving his silver sports car idling as he ran inside.
During a violent struggle, it is alleged that Mr Gatto shot him. "
IT WAS revealed Mr Williams and his bodyguard, Veniamin, were seen in a heated argument with Mr Gatto at Crown casino, days after the death of Kinniburgh.
I Was in line with Benji out the front of the Magistrates court a couple of weeks ago. His Celtic tattoos on his arms were doing somersaults they were on that much gooey. *
But Veniamin was a known hothead, who sources said started "going nuts and losing the plot" about eight months ago.
"He was getting carried away, driving his $200,000 Mercedes while tooled up (carrying a gun)," a former detective told the Herald Sun.
"He wouldn't leave home without a rosco (gun). He wouldn't even go to the bathroom without one. He was paranoid, and a lot of people started distancing themselves because he was getting out of control and upsetting people left, right and centre."
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| Mick Gatto- Landscaper, negotiator, man about town. Charged with the murder of Andrew "Benji" Veniamen. |
VENIAMIN. _ Andrew.
I never thought someone I used to be so scared of, could turn out to be my oxygen. Despite what everyone thought of me, you stood by me. You were my life Benji. I love you. See you in Heaven babe. _ Ebony.
VENIAMIN. _ Andrew.
Benji, my true friend, youre always in my heart. This isnt the end, you're one of a kind. A true soldier, respect and loyalty you were one honest beholder. Ill see you in Heaven cause thats where you are. Youre my angel. Love forever
_ Chris O_.
"I'm not going to heaven and I'm glad. I wouldn't know anyone"
