Brothers For Life ex-boss Farhad Qaumi appeals murder conviction
The notorious former leader of the Brothers For Life gang’s Blacktown chapter, Farhad Qaumi, has appealed against his 45-year jail sentence for the murder of underworld figure Joe Antoun, claiming he was set up.
Notorious gangland figure Farhad Qaumi has a New Year’s resolution: to overturn his conviction for the contract killing of underworld figure Joe Antoun.
Qaumi, former leader of the Blacktown chapter of the Brothers For Life gang, has lodged an appeal with the NSW Supreme Court claiming he was set up over the murder.
Antoun, a construction industry identity, was shot five times at his Strathfield home on December 16, 2013. Qaumi was found guilty of accepting a contract worth $100,000 to send a gunman to assassinate him and was sentenced to 45 years in jail.
The case against Qaumi relied on a number of former gang members and associates who gave evidence against him, including the man who shot Antoun.
The identities of the 13 witnesses were suppressed.
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According to the appeal documents lodged by lawyers John Stratton, SC, and Simon Joyner, the “inconsistencies” in witness evidence is enough to torpedo Qaumi’s conviction.
One of the key appeal points revolves around a secretly recorded conversation in a prison van in December 2013.
Antoun’s killer was inside the van and Qaumi claims the conversation proves he was never in possession of the gun.
Another issue was that the gunman claimed Qaumi threatened to kill him and his daughter unless he murdered Antoun, before handing him a loaded gun. Qaumi claims this is “highly improbable” because he would have been unarmed and the gunman did not take the opportunity to shoot him following such a threat.
The appeal is set down for hearing in March.
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