Bankstown shooting murder: Slain lawyer Ho Ledinh’s grim life and debt struggle
SLAIN Sydney solicitor Ho Ledinh was deep in debt and owed money to “the wrong people” at the time of his streetside execution in the heart of Bankstown, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
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SLAIN Sydney solicitor Ho Ledinh was deep in debt and owed money to “the wrong people” at the time of his streetside execution in the heart of Bankstown, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
Detectives are investigating whether the 65-year-old father of five was shot dead as payback as they look into the secret life of the suburban solicitor.
It is understood that his financial troubles led to him deregistering his law firm, Ledinh Lawyers Pty Ltd, in March last year for six months although this did not affect his practising certificate.
“He was in a lot of debt,” a source said yesterday.
A second theory is whether Mr Ledinh was the target of a “Cape Fear” style revenge attack by a disgruntled client when he was shot in the back on Tuesday as he sipped a coffee at Bankstown’s Happy Cup cafe, which he used to previously run.
WATCH: Graphic footage in the aftermath of shooting
Homicide Squad commander Detective Superintendent Scott Cook said officers will look into Mr Ledinh’s clients.
“He was a criminal solicitor, in the sense that that was his business to practise,” Supt Cook said. “He has a lot of clients who are engaged in organised crime and other offences so that is absolutely a line of inquiry in terms of his business.”
In a mammoth forensic task, detectives yesterday emptied every bin in Bankstown Plaza in the hope of finding a water bottle Ms Ledinh’s attacker was seen drinking from in the minutes before the murder.
Investigators are hopeful the discarded bottle will reveal fingerprints or DNA.
The shooter was described as having a Pacific Islander appearance with a medium build and wore a dark cap, sunglasses and a raincoat to conceal his identity during the shooting.
Police believe he is still in possession of the handgun from the murder and ballistics officers have been called in.
He was last seen running down Stuart Lane at Bankstown and remains on the run.
The Homicide Squad has established Strike Force Eugene to investigate the shooting as they delve into Mr Ledinh’s business life as well as his legal life where he represented everyone from drug dealers to involvement in family law cases and defamation trials.
Barrister Terry Luckman said he had been briefed many times by Mr Ledinh, who qualified as a solicitor in 1999.
“Most of his cases were drug-related, some were domestic violence, but mostly drug-related among the Vietnamese community in Bankstown,” he said. “He rolled his sleeves up and tried to help these people.”