Inside the former SA life of Hells Angels bikie boss Angelo Pandeli
Notorious Hells Angels bikie boss Angelo Pandeli once lived a quiet life in Whyalla before establishing controversial ties to one of Adelaide’s most iconic nightclubs.
Police & Courts
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He is the notorious “Mr Big” of the underworld, but before Hells Angels bikie boss Angelo Pandeli’s sinister reputation reached a crescendo, he lived a humble smalltown life in Whyalla.
Pandeli, 52, born in SA to Turkish parents Konstantino and Marika Pandeli, is number one on the radar of cops this year, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The Hells Angels president, who is believed to be living a lavish life in the Middle East after fleeing a luxury home in Sydney’s Pyrmont, quietly assumed power of Australia’s billion-dollar drug trade after the capture of a series of high-profile individuals suspected of being involved in Turkey last year.
He has since become the top target for law enforcement agencies, according to police sources.
Flashback 40-odd years, he was living in Whyalla on the Upper Spencer Gulf with his publican parents, who ran local haunt The Sundowner Hotel in the 70s.
Moving to Adelaide in the 2000s – shortly after joining the Hells Angels bikie gang as a junior member – Mr Pandeli formed scandalous ties to Adelaide’s night-life scene, including iconic dance club Heaven.
It was during his years living in Adelaide he met wife Kerry.
Adelaide nightclub scene past
Pandeli worked as a security guard in the 2000s while a junior Hells Angels member, most notably at renowned venue Heaven, which was located on West Tce in the former site of HQ before reopening in 2010 on Pulteney St.
It was Pandeli’s involvement in Heaven that eventually led to operator John Pike’s licence being revoked.
In November 2006, Mr Pike was reprimanded in the South Australian Licensing Court for hiring Pandeli, to “provide security against outlaw motorcycle club members”.
According to the ABC, the nightclub paid a Hells Angels member believed to be Pandeli $5,000 per week for more than two years to provide security at Heaven.
Pandeli was found to not be a “fit and proper person” after it emerged in court he was paid to keep other bikies out.
Mr Pike was subsequently banned from operating licensed premises because of his association with the both Hells Angels and Gypsy Jokers, facing court again when the club reopened in 2010 to ask for a second chance.
The court heard his position with the reopened club was to organise events, but he agreed to stay clear of the premises while undertaking the role while denying any association with organised crime.
Mr Pike told the court he was bankrupt and depressed.
“I have managed to get myself where I am able to get back to work,” he said.
“I would like this opportunity to redeem a successful brand that was called Heaven.
There is no suggestion of any illegal conduct on the part of Mr Pike.
“Given another chance I will not disappoint Your Honour.”
In 2011, Judge Paul Rice ruled Mr Pike could work as a consultant for the club, but was to have no involvement in the hiring, paying or firing of any staff,
In February 2012, the revived Heaven closed its doors for good.
How Angelo and wife Kerry met
It was during his years living in Adelaide that he met wife Kerry Pandeli, nee McDonough.
Mrs Pandeli, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, runs a “sustainable island-wear” brand called Born In Bali which boasts 5.9k Instagram followers.
Founded in 2018, its website says: “BORN IN BALI™ is a female-led luxury sustainable lifestyle brand for the modern globetrotting woman.
“Rugged yet refined, tailored but comfortable, BORN IN BALI™ offers innovative silhouettes in fresh styles to adore, season after season. Wearing BORN IN BALI™, days are longer, nights end well, and the odds are always tilted in your favour.”
Influencers flocked to the opening of its flagship store in Canggu, Bali in November last year.
From SA to underworld kingpin
According to an exclusive report by The Daily Telegraph’s Anton Rose, Pandeli’s rise to power in recent years has been touted by police and underworld sources as nothing short of astronomical.
Pandeli has built up a network of underworld connections around the globe while pledging funds to several business ventures.
After his stint in Adelaide, he moved to Sydney where he became one of the most powerful bikies in the city, setting up the Sydney Hells Angels chapter and becoming a regular at high-end restaurants at Star City casino.
During this time, he took over as the gang’s national president.
He is one of the original nine members of what was called the “Aussie cartel” responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of drugs coming down under, operating from bases in Greece and UAE.
At one point, the cartel was believed to be turning over $1.5 billion through drug trafficking routes into the nation’s ports with the help of insiders at the border.
The cartel came undone in 2021, when the AFP revealed it had infiltrated their inner circle through the AN0M app sting where all their messages were read by police.
Pandeli is understood to have left Australia around 2018, after escaping punishment for tax fraud which was blamed on his accountant.
Mr Pandeli allegedly failed to lodge tax returns for the 2014-2015 financial year, and was accused of ignoring a notice from the Australian Taxation Office to submit a detailed income statement.
He was cleared of the charges when his accountant took the fall in a signed affidavit.
He then sold his waterfront Pyrmont home for $8.6 million, which he purchased in 2006 for about $2 million.
He is now being hunted by the AFP, and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, as well as the Australian Taxation Office again.
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