By Sally Rawsthorne and Perry Duffin
A former company director charged over a large-scale criminal car rebirthing operation is one of the people on the “periphery” of the Dural caravan terror plot who has been arrested.
Simon Lance Nichols, 39, was named alongside Tammie Farrugia, 34, and Scott Marshall, 36, on a warrant for a counter-terrorism raid after a caravan containing explosives as well as information about the locations of the Great Synagogue and the Sydney Jewish Museum was discovered earlier this month.
Police said they found jerry cans inside the vehicles.Credit: NSW Police
Nichols, a former company director in the Alexandria-based Ezilift Pty Ltd, was arrested by organised crime squad officers on January 2 and is facing a slate of charges relating to so-called “kill cars”, which can be used in gangland hits.
Investigators allege he warehoused more than half a dozen stolen cars in Fairfield East over several months last year. Police say they also found jerry cans inside a number of cars and 15 stolen number plates Velcroed onto vehicles. The arrest followed an “unexplained wealth” investigation last year that led to the seizure of eight cars in August.
In a media release at the time, organised crime unit boss Detective Superintendent Peter Faux said the stolen vehicles were primed for “serious crime activities including murders and shootings” and differed from the high-performance vehicles typically seized in such investigations.
Scott Marshall and Tammie Farrugia have been arrested. Credit: Facebook
“These are not the standard high-performance kill cars we normally seize,” Faux said. “These cars are meant to hide in our community and allow criminals to avoid the consequences of their evil intent.”
Nichols was refused bail in connection to the “kill car” charges and remains on remand. He has not been charged over the explosive-laden caravan for which the police investigation is ongoing.
Farrugia was arrested three weeks after Nichols. She was charged over her alleged role in an antisemitic attack on Woollahra’s Magney Street in December in which multiple houses were graffitied with the words “Death 2 Israiel” and “Kill Israiel”, and a stolen car was torched.
She allegedly obtained five jerry cans, having sought them from local Facebook groups before the incident. Investigators also allege she was a passenger in a stolen Mitsubishi ASX that was driven to a meeting point.
She has been charged with participating in a criminal group, being an accessory before the fact to destroy or damage property, and being in a stolen car.
One of the so-called “kill cars” seized by police in August. Credit: NSW Police
Court documents seen by the Herald allege Farrugia was a participant in a criminal group with her partner Marshall and one other person.
She has not been charged in relation to the caravan and remains on remand, due to appear in Liverpool Local Court next week.
Marshall was picked up by investigators on Christmas Eve and charged over allegations of possessing knuckledusters and stolen goods in the Liverpool unit the couple had shared for the past six months.
He remains in custody and has not been charged in relation to the caravan or antisemitism, despite being listed on Farrugia’s court documents as a participant in a criminal group.
He is due to return to court in March.
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