Vince Focarelli considering leaving Australia before he’s deported
FORMER gang leader Vince Focarelli is considering leaving Australia to avoid deportation to a detention centre.
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FORMER gang leader Vince Focarelli is considering leaving Australia to avoid deportation to a detention centre.
It follows The Advertiser’s exclusive revelation in February the notorious underworld figure’s visa would be cancelled because of his criminal past.
Focarelli said he was most likely to return to Italy, where he lived until his arrival when he was 12 years old
The high-profile former gang figure said he wanted to leave on his own volition before being forcibly deported.
“If I stick around and wait for them, then there’s a chance I could be taken to a detention centre,” he told Nine News.
“Once I settle down, my wife and daughter will come along.”
In a farewell party he held with his friends and family, he said he would continue to fight to return to Australia.
“My lawyers are working very hard,” he said.
The now devout Muslim said he had washed his hands clean of the past.
His city eatery La Fig Cucina on Carrington St served the last meal on Sunday and is on the market.
Focarelli has several days left out of the 28 days needed to file a submission to the Immigration Department “justifying’’ why he should be allowed to remain on Australian soil.
His submission will be included in a report to federal Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton, who will then make the final decision.
Mongols treasurer Andrew Peter Stevens still fighting his deportation through the courts after forcibly removed from his home
He, along with another lesser-known Adelaide gang figure, ex-Comanchero Paul Burgess were flown to the Christmas Island detention centre last June.