Fadi Ibrahim: Police find hidden cameras at Dover Heights home
Having survived being shot, Fadi Ibrahim wasn’t going to take any chances when it came to his security. But even police were surprised when they searched his home. Police recorded the raid, which was tendered in multiple court cases. WATCH THE VIDEO
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When police raided John Ibrahim’s house in 2017, they spent 10 hours turning his Eastern Suburbs mansion upside down looking for incriminating evidence.
The Kings Cross identity wasn’t charged, but police found several surprises in his house, like numerous safes, bags of white powder and that his house was a communal living arrangement.
It was the climax of an 18 month police investigation that led to about 20 arrests and the simultaneous raids of the homes belonging to John’s siblings, Michael, Fadi and Jazz Dior. Police recorded each of the raids, which were tendered in multiple court cases.
The videos shed unprecedented insight on one of Sydney’s most fascinating families.
The searches uncovered a hidden pinhole camera, a confession of a drug addiction and a questionable interior design choice in the form of a very large tap in the shape of a dolphin.
Surviving being shot five times is likely to make you think about your personal safety at home.
That probably explains why Fadi Ibrahim had an extensive CCTV set-up on his Eastern Suburbs home that was topped off by a hidden pinhole camera that filmed anyone who walked through his front door.
Police filmed the camera during their video search of Fadi’s house, which was tendered in court.
The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it camera sat behind a wood panel at about eye level opposite the front door in the foyer.
The only giveaway was a tiny hole in the wood panel.
The camera was barely noticeable on the police’s first search of Fadi’s house when they raided it in the early hours of August 8, 2017, the tendered video showed.
But an eagle-eyed officer detected it.
Looking like something out of a James Bond movie, it was the perfect height to film anyone who came through the front door.
On their last trip through the house after 4pm, the police had removed the wooden panel to reveal the miniature nature of the camera, the video showed.
It also revealed the wiring that led from the camera to the CCTV set-up inside a cupboard by the front door.
Outside, the tendered video showed Fadi’s home was also dotted with a collection of other CCTV cameras.
At the front door, along the side of the house — they covered every approach angle to Fadi’s home.
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So if unwanted guests thought they could sneak up on Fadi from the road, or even the large grassed park next to his home, they would be caught on camera.
The videos showed the cameras fed images to a mainframe and screens around the house so Fadi and his wife Shayda could keep an eye on things while they were inside.
Fadi’s emphasis on security could be explained by his brush with death in 2009.
Fadi barely survived being shot while sitting in his Lamborghini outside his then home in Castle Cove in 2009 by a shooter who has never been identified.
His now wife Shayda was also in the car and sustained a bullet wound to the leg.
When the police came knocking in 2017, Shayda was home with their two children and she could be seen on the videos avoiding the officers as they searched the house.
Fadi was in Dubai where he was arrested alongside his brother Michael and several other associates.
He has been charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime and is set to plead not guilty and fight the allegations in a trial next year.