Police have been dealt a serious blow in their attempts to end Melbourne’s brutal tobacco war, with witnesses and victims being threatened to keep their silence.
The crew of exiled gangland boss Kazem “Kaz” Hamad is suspected of waging the campaign of intimidation, which comes as authorities struggle with a wave of violence linked to the year-long turf war.
Kazem “Kaz” Hamad in about 2015.
The prosecution of a suspected Hamad standover man collapsed on Friday after a key witness refused to co-operate with authorities investigating allegations he was being extorted for at least $10,000 for the “protection” of his tobacco shops in Melbourne’s north this year.
In March, George Serevetas was charged with two counts of extortion over a scheme in which he allegedly collected the money after the store owner received threatening WhatsApp calls from Hamad. A court heard the calls included a warning from Hamad that he would “blow up” the man’s tobacco shops if he wasn’t paid.
In opposing Serevetas’ bail in March, Detective Senior Constable Katie Shanahan said the alleged victim remained at serious threat of intimidation by the syndicate.
“We’ve identified a trend where the victim of extortion almost always receives further threats of violence to them and their families and, in many cases, becomes the victim of arson [after speaking to police],” Shanahan told the court.
Border Force officers inspect illegal cigarettes in a shipping container in Melbourne.Credit: Joe Armao
The detective said police feared tobacco shop owners were sleeping in their stores to try to protect them from arson attacks, and that some extortion victims were too scared to contact the police.
Less than two months after Serevetas’ bail application, two tobacco shops owned by the alleged victim in that case were destroyed in firebombing attacks within minutes of each other.
On Friday during a brief hearing in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, a prosecutor withdrew charges related to the alleged extortion. The prosecutor said Serevetas’ matter had been “resolved” and he would now be entering a plea to 43 theft, drug and driving charges next month.
Victoria Police declined to comment.
A spokesperson for the Office of Public Prosecutions said “decisions about whether to withdraw charges are never made lightly.
“After careful review of the available evidence, a determination was made that in respect of the [two] charges of extortion with threat to destroy property etc contrary to [section] 28 of the Crimes Act 1958, there were not reasonable prospects of conviction,” the spokesperson said.
It is the second time a case against an alleged member of Hamad’s crew has collapsed.
George Serevetas.
In May, the prosecution of another two alleged Hamad soldiers accused of extorting a tobacco shop in Melbourne’s west was withdrawn. No explanation was given in court.
An Office of Public Prosecutions spokesperson said there had also been no reasonable prospect of conviction in that case.
Five police and underworld sources, who spoke anonymously while matters were ongoing, said the campaign of intimidation was being waged by Hamad to protect his foot soldiers and lieutenants from prosecution for crimes committed on his order.
Hamad has emerged as a major underworld player in Melbourne after being released from prison in mid-2023 and deported to his native Iraq.
Police and underworld sources say the 39-year-old was responsible for igniting the tobacco war that has led to more than 70 shops being torched and has been linked to violence including shootings and at least two murders.
There is no suggestion that Serevetas had any involvement in the gang’s firebombings, or the shootings and murders.
Hamad has become infamous for his willingness to inflict violence and his habit of lavishly rewarding those in his crew who are arrested.
This has included hiring top-ranked defence lawyers, underwriting legal and support payments – worth hundreds of thousands of dollars – to the families of those arrested, and in one case, sending a Rolls-Royce Ghost and a Lamborghini to pick up an associate released on bail.
Barrister Gavin Silbert, KC.Credit: Jason South
Barrister Gavin Silbert, KC, said witness intimidation had been a long-running issue within the justice system, but short of putting victims in witness protection there was little law enforcement agencies could do to protect them.
“That obviously solves the problem, but there are very few people who are prepared to forfeit their lives,” Silbert said.
“It’s always been a problem. It was a problem back in the days of the Walsh Street murders, where the main witness went to water and the prosecution failed. I don’t think there’s an easy solution to it.”
In October 1988, police constables Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre were gunned down as they responded to reports of an abandoned car in South Yarra in what became known as the Walsh Street police shootings.
Four men were charged with murder, but they were later acquitted after a star witness and Wendy Peirce, the wife of one of the accused men, flipped and refused to co-operate with prosecutors at the 1991 trial.
“If a witness retracts the statement … there’s very little that can be done,” said Silbert. “It’s a human system that has its frailties, but I don’t think it’s inherently flawed.”
Building a case without a witness was nearly impossible, he said.
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