FNQ council gives drug traffickers Zane Brache and Roger William Griffith preferred supplier status
A convicted meth trafficker and former crown prosecutor jailed for their involvement in a criminal syndicate are now on the books of a Cape York council.
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A convicted meth trafficker and former crown prosecutor jailed for their involvement in a criminal syndicate are now on the books of a Cape York council.
At an ordinary meeting of the Northern Peninsula Area Council on September 24, 2024, ZK Construction Group was endorsed as a preferred building supplier after submitting a tender between July and August last year.
Council records state the motion to endorse various contractors, including ZK Construction Group, was carried unanimously.
The company is registered in Bunya, a new rural locality in the Sunshine Coast region, according to Australian Securities and Investments Commission records.
Former champion kickboxer Kenny Tse is listed as the sole director as of June this year.
It can now be revealed ZK Construction Group chief executive officer is Zane Rene Brache.
Former Smithfield man Zane Rene Cook, also known as Zane Rene Brache, trafficked 3.5kg of methamphetamine worth $630,000 from Brisbane to Cairns between August and October 2017 and was sentenced to 9½ years jail in October 2020.
The convicted drug trafficker is listed as the ZK Construction Group chief executive on the company’s website and also listed as a part shareholder, according to the ASIC company register.
Mr Brache was head of the syndicate which, when busted by police, also brought down disgraced top lawyer and crown prosecutor Roger William Griffith who plotted with members of the drug syndicate to buy land and disguise it as a goat farm while they grew and stored marijuana.
Mr Griffith was handed an 18 month jail sentence in 2021 after pleading guilty to drug trafficking, attempting to pervert justice and money laundering.
According to the ZK Construction Group website, Mr Griffith is the company’s commercial project manager.
In May this year the company had prominent shareholders including Alex Wymara and partner of former Aurukun mayor Gerald Tamwoy, however, following a suite of changes to company details declared through ASIC this month, Zane Rene Brache, Kenny Tse and one other are currently the company’s only shareholders.
Shareholders of the company have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Mr Tse, known in the martial arts world as “The Pitbull,” is also the face of a new Northern Peninsula Area ride-share business called NPA Catch a Lift which is trading under the ZK Construction Group ABN as of May this year, according to ASIC.
Council Watch president Dean Hurlston said normally as part of a council’s steps to identify potential liabilities, company, credit and criminal record checks would be run on groups applying for tenders.
“They have not done their due diligence,” he said.
“What this reveals is a worrying trend in the local government sector that smaller councils do not have adequate controls and processes over the appointment of service providers.
“In the interests of public money and transparency we would ask the council to immediately investigate the concerns.
“It just shows weak processes and what we ask is did councillors know and if no one knew anything, why not?”
A deputation to the council by ZK Construction Group stakeholders in January last year also raised concerns relating to a commercial entity potentially influencing decision-makers.
The Northern Peninsula Area Council mayor Robert Poipoi, on the advice of the acting Council chief executive Lew Rojahn, cited commercial reasons for not commenting on the preferred supplier status of ZK Construction Group.
Attempts have also been made to contact Mr Brache, Mr Griffith and Mr Tse through NPA Catch a Lift.
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Originally published as FNQ council gives drug traffickers Zane Brache and Roger William Griffith preferred supplier status
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