Seven men accused of Maroochydore extortion plot to appear in court
A group of men accused of holding two people captive in a Queensland unit complex over an alleged multimillion dollar extortion plot will face court next year.
Seven men accused of a violent extortion plot over an alleged multimillion-dollar debt will appear in person on the Sunshine Coast next year for the next steps in their case.
Mouhamed Alameddine, Joel A Batour-Pullin, Nassim Eid, Aaron John McCann, Anthony Khalil, Omar Mohmed Ahmed Hassan and Nezar Manly must attend Maroochydore Magistrates Court next year in a highly anticipated court hearing several months after an alleged home invasion over a $2.4m debt.
Police allege the group travelled from Sydney and forced their way into a Maroochydore unit complex on April 10 to threaten a 27-year-old man and 29-year-old woman with violence and demanded a significant amount of money from the pair.
Five men left the unit a short time later, with two others remaining inside with the man and woman.
Police were notified following concerns raised for the pair with specialist officers attending the property later that night, resulting in the man and woman being located.
Batour-Pullin and Eid were arrested inside the unit at the time and were charged with one count each of deprivation of liberty and extortion with an aggravating factor of serious organised crime. Batour-Pullin faced an additional charge of contravening an order to access his phone.
They were initially refused bail in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court but were able to obtain conditional liberty from the Supreme Court in Brisbane.
The remaining men were extradited from Sydney in June and granted bail before the Brisbane Magistrates Court. They also faced charges of extortion and deprivation of liberty.
Their matters were mentioned in Maroochydore on Monday, where solicitor Christopher Lumme from Lumme and Associates appeared for McCann.
The remaining men were represented by defence lawyer Danielle Heable who appeared for Dib and Associates. She also appeared as a town agent for Abbas Jacobs Lawyers and Karnib Saddik Law Firm by phone.
Ms Heable said counsel for Alameddine, Batour-Pullin, Eid, Khalil, Mohmed Ahmed Hassan and Manly would be available for a directions application to be heard in April, however certain dates that month were not available for Mr Lumme. He advised the court that his counsel for McCann would be available in May.
This was granted by magistrate Chris Callaghan, who directed all men to appear for the directions application to be heard on May 7, 2026.
Mr Callaghan said if the application was to fail, all of their matters would proceed to a full hand up to the superior court.
All men remain on bail. No pleas were entered.
