Motorsport racer Chris Pappas attacked at home before partner’s hair salon set on fire
Police are on the trail of three males seen on CCTV as they probe a hair salon firebombing. It comes weeks after the salon owner’s partner was brutally attacked inside their home. FULL STORY
Gold Coast
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Police are investigating any potential links between a brutal attack on a Gold Coast motorsport identity in his home followed by the firebombing of a hair salon owned by his partner.
The victim’s salon is owned by Krystle Earsman, who is the partner of well-known racing car driver Chris Pappas.
Mr Pappas was also the victim of a bashing six weeks ago with a hammer and stabbed by masked men in a shocking attack at his Mermaid Waters mansion in the early hours of Tuesday August 13.
He was rushed to hospital in a serious condition after the 3am attack, in which he is believed to have been stabbed in the leg and hit in the head with a hammer.
Meanwhile, on Saturday at 1am, three men in a white Mitsubishi AZX pulled up to her HSK Hair salon at Mermaid Beach.
The trio smashed the glass front door of the salon before pouring an accelerant inside and setting fire to the premises, causing extensive damage.
In a message to customers on social media the salon said it would be forced to operate from a different address following the incident.
“Our poor salon - subject to robbery and arson. We will be in contact with clients for the week. We will be running from a different address for now,” the HSK Hair business account on Instagram posted on Monday.
“Thank you for your ongoing support and kindness. Our community is unmatched and I’m so grateful for you all.”
Police are still investigating the attack incident on Mr Pappas, and are now also probing whether there was any link with Saturday morning’s fire attack on Ms Earsman’s salon.
Chief Superintendent Craig Hanlon said officers were studying CCTV as they worked to identify the hair salon culprits.
“We’re currently looking at CCTV footage in and around the location to try and ascertain the identity of the three males that were involved in this matter,” he said.
“The investigation is ongoing and if anyone has any information that can assist we please ask them to contact us.”
Mr Pappas was among several men charged in 2016 over an alleged multimillion dollar “boiler room” fraud, with police previously making allegations of selling false betting products or services.
However, the charges against Mr Pappas and Jack Doumani, his son John and Kevin Seymour were dropped after permanent stays against the prosecutions were granted in the Southport District Court earlier this year.
None of the cases were ever formally listed for trial.
Separately, Mr Pappas, his sister Isabella, 30, and their developer father Chris Sr, 83, have since been involved in unrelated Supreme Court stoushes with Jack Doumani, another son James and some of their companies.
There is no suggestion that any of the Doumanis were involved in the attack on Mr Pappas or the firebombing of Ms Earsman’s salon - or that these events are in any way connected to the Supreme Court actions.
Bank accounts have been frozen, according to court documents, and the Pappas’ and Doumanis are fighting over everything from allegedly being shut out of business meetings to control of office items including executive desks, a fridge, microwave and coffee machine.
Chris Jr and Isabella Pappas have been business partners with Jack and James Doumani but in May this year, they launched Supreme Court action against the Doumanis and eight companies.The Pappas’ alleged in court documents that the affairs of seven companies – Next Generation Advice, NGAA, FBC Australia, 21 Upton St Holdings, Sharpmove Finance, Integral Advisory Solutions and Integral Wealth Group – had been “conducted contrary to the interests of the members as a whole” and/or were “oppressive”, “unfairly prejudicial” and/or “unfairly discriminatory” towards them.
The claim alleged Ms Pappas, acting as trustee for The Yen Trust, had been excluded from the management and business affairs of Next Generation Advice, NGAA, FBC Australia and 21 Upton St Holdings
She sought court orders including that the James Doumani-linked N & J Consultants Pty Ltd, purchase her shares in the companies for “fair value” based on the alleged improper business conduct, or an order that they be wound up and a liquidator appointed.
Her brother, acting as trustee for The Dymo Trust, sought similar orders in relation to Sharpmove Finance, Integral Advisory Solutions and Integral Wealth Group.
Ms Pappas also sought orders that she has an equitable interest in a Bundall property owned by Upton St Holdings.
Court documents allege that company bank accounts were frozen last month after a court-approved undertaking by the Doumanis not to deal with company assets, property or funds without Ms Pappas’ consent or “in the ordinary course of business”.
The documents allege the accounts were frozen, and staff could not be paid, after Ms Pappas expressed “serious concerns” that $140,000 in company funds had been spent in June.
In an email last month to Next Generation’s financial controller, filed as part of the court battle, Ms Pappas said she had not approved any transactions since the court orders were made and had frozen the bank accounts because she was not satisfied the expenditure was for a “proper purpose”.
“James, Jack and yourself seem to forget that I am still a director of Next Generation,” she said in the email to Omar Salkic.
“I cannot and will not allow the business to be run by James, Jack and yourself without any regard to me.”
N & J Consultants later applied to the court for orders that Ms Pappas “take all reasonable and necessary steps” to allow Next Generation to make designated payments and to reimburse N & J for previous payments.
A defence to the claim has yet to be filed but the court documents reveal court-ordered mediation between the warring parties has failed.
Pappas company Point Bay Developments, directed by Chris Pappas Sr, has launched separate Supreme Court action against the Doumanis and Upton St Holdings seeking “immediate right to possession” of property stored at the company’s Upton St, Bundall, address.The list includes office furniture including two executive desks, two 190cm plasma TVs, a boardroom table, fridge, microwave, coffee machine, development photos and documents.
Back in 2022, Mr Pappas Jr and Ms Earsman were involved in a fiery high-speed crash at Bundall and were pulled from the wreckage of his $330,000 McLaren supercar.
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