Michael Ibrahim shot in Sydney, man arrested

POLICE investigating whether yesterday’s shooting was linked to a feud between the Ibrahim clan and another notorious criminal family.

DETECTIVES are investigating whether yesterday’s shooting was linked to a feud between the Ibrahim clan and another notorious criminal family.

Brothers Sam, Michael and John Ibrahim.

Michael Ibrahim has been linked to some of the most feared members of Sydney’s underworld where friendships and alliances are fluid.

Most of them have had their own run-ins at the end of a gun or a fist with some of them proving fatal.

There is still a $100,000 reward out for the 2005 murder of a notorious drug dealer, Milad Sande, who was a friend of Michael and his oldest brother Sam.

Sande, 29, the cousin of a Bandidos Blacktown chapter member and nephew of one of the city’s biggest heroin dealers, was shot dead during a botched drug deal at Malabar in Sydney’s south-eastern suburbs.

Another of his close friends was Mahmoud Sleiman, a notorious methylamphetamine and cannabis dealer who disappeared without trace on February 2, 2003.

John Ibrahim arrives at St Vincent’s Hospital after the shooting of his brother Michael last night. Picture: Jeremy Piper

John Ibrahim minder Tongan Sam arrives at St Vincent’s. Picture: Jeremy Piper

John Ibrahim. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Friends and family arrive at St Vincent’s after learning of the shooting. Picture: Jeremy Piper

In May 2011, the Eddy St, Merrylands home of the Ibrahim family’s cousins Mouhamed and Sleiman Tajjour was sprayed with nine bullets.

The Tajjour brothers were convicted of manslaughter along with Michael over the death of Robin Nassour, brother of Fat Pizza actor George Nassour, in 2006.

Sixteen hours later, gunmen driving past in a dark coloured vehicle fired seven shots into the home of the Ibrahim matriarch, Wahibs Ibrahim, in Price St, Merrylands.

The Tajours were released from jail in March 2010 and last year, Sleiman Tajjour, boss of the Nomads bikie gang, led an appeal to the High Court over the state’s anti-consorting laws. He lost.

Police at the scene of the shooting. Picture: Bill Hearne

Superintendent Allan Sicard talks to the media. Picture: Braden Fastier.

Ibrahim was taken to Sydney Hospital after being shot on the footpath outside office building 151 Macquarie St about 10.30pm last night, between Bent and Bridge streets.

He has since been transferred to St Vincent’s Hospital in a stable condition where he is undergoing surgery, a hospital spokesman confirmed.

Witnesses heard a number of shots being fired and he was hit in the shoulder, according to reports.

Police say they are looking for two attackers in a white Audi. Detectives spoke with Mr Ibrahim after he underwent surgery at St Vincent’s Hospital on Monday.

It is believed Ibrahim was living in a luxury apartment on Macquarie St just months after being released on parole.

Police conducted line searches on the normally busy CBD street, looking for bullet casings and putting out forensic markers.

Detectives have interviewed a Taxis Combined taxi driver who is believed to have witnessed the incident.

Other witnesses have also made statements to police, but refused to comment to media.

Police closed the crime scene sometime between 1am and 4am Monday morning.

A crime scene was established in Sydney after a man was shot twice overnight. Picture: Bill Hearne

Detectives were forced to put police tape back up again at 4.45am, however, after a security guard found another bullet at the scene. It appears no windows were damaged during the incident.

John Ibrahim arrived at St Vincent’s Hospital this morning to visit his brother.

Shortly after 9.30am, a black Range Rover driven by the night club owner’s infamous bodyguard Tongan Sam pulled up to the main entrance.

John Ibrahim was then seen walking quickly inside.

Plain clothes detectives were also seen entering the hospital about 9.15am.

One woman was also seen entering the building flanked by bodyguard Tongan Sam.

Michael Ibrahim was jailed for the killing of Robin Nassour in 2006 but released on parole in August last year.

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A man was arrested and taken from the scene. Picture: Bill Hearne

The 36-year-old served more than seven-and-a-half years of a maximum nine-year, four-month sentence for his role in the fatal stabbing at Chiswick, in Sydney’s inner west.

He was subject to 25 strict conditions including not associating with his co-offenders, Bikie gang members and his victim’s family. He was also to be electronically monitored.

During his parole hearing, he told the board he wanted to move on with his life, wouldn’t break the law if released from jail and would abide by the “most stringent” parole conditions.

Being behind bars while his mother was treated for cancer was a “wake up call”, he told the parole board.

The 36-year-old was granted parole, reportedly subject to a range of strict conditions, including electronic monitoring and keeping away from Kings Cross and other parts of Sydney.

Michael Ibrahim was acquitted in 2012 of conspiring to murder nightclub owner John Macris, who he believed was responsible for gunning down his brother, Fadi Ibrahim, outside a home in Sydney’s north

Ibrahim was taken to Sydney Hospital before being transferred to St Vincent’s to undergo surgery. Pics Bill Hearne

Last night’s shooting happened outside the multistorey office tower 151 Macquarie, next door to the Dorchester House building.

The incident is less than 300m from the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place, the scene of the deadly siege on December 15 and 16.

The incident left some people, like motorist Reza Haghbaali, without their cars because they were parked inside the crime scene.

They were allowed to retrieve their vehicles as the clock struck midnight.

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