Sydney developer identified as suspect in Mick Hawi hit denies involvement
POLICE are investigating whether former bikie boss Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi was murdered amid a debt collection dispute with a wealthy Sydney property developer.
NSW
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POLICE are investigating whether former bikie boss Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi was murdered amid a debt collection dispute with a wealthy Sydney property developer.
Several police sources have confirmed the middle-aged businessman is a “person of interest” in the case, after receiving information Hawi was possibly trying to extort $300,000 from him at the time of his death.
The Saturday Telegraph understands police are looking at the theory that the developer sought help from others to resolve his dispute with Hawi, but eventually two men with links to the Lone Wolf motorcycle gang ended up carrying out the execution.
The police suspect has been in the construction industry for more than two decades but cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Yesterday he said he had “absolutely nothing” to do with Hawi’s murder.
“Absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing,” the man said when The Saturday Telegraph approached him at his southwestern Sydney business.
“I’m sorry but I don’t know anything, I’ve got no involvement. I’ve got nothing to say.”
Detective Chief Inspector Steve Patton said police were focusing on whether Hawi’s death was related to him collecting debts linked to the construction industry.
“While we have a number of lines of inquiry, there is significant information to indicate Mr Hawi’s involvement in collecting alleged debts and connection to the construction industry may have led to his murder,” Insp Patton said.
“We are confident we will make arrests. It’s not a matter of if — it is a matter of when.”
Hawi, 37, the former national president of the Comanchero bikie gang, was shot repeatedly through the driver’s side window of his black Mercedes-Benz 4WD outside Fitness First at Rockdale on February 15.
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He was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later.
One police source said there was information to suggest the Sydney developer at the centre of the investigation had already coughed up $200,000 to Hawi but was being hassled to hand over a further $300,000.
The source also said the man would not speak to police, was not assisting them or being forthcoming with information.
The Saturday Telegraph can reveal that police believe one of the two men linked to the Lone Wolf members who carried out the shooting may have taken a second getaway car to a relative’s house after the murder.
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Police have not determined whether any issues between the Comanchero and the Lone Wolf members played a part in the killing.
CCTV footage shows the gunman taking aim at the driver’s side window of Hawi’s car outside the gym on West Botany St before getting into a grey Mercedes.
The Mercedes — stolen during a carjacking nine months earlier — was dumped and torched on nearby Chandler St, Rockdale, before the duo took off in a second getaway car.
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While he has not left Australia, one of the men has “gone to ground” and has not been seen or heard from in several weeks.
Insp Patton said there was a series of theories investigators were looking at: “The investigation of organised crime-type murders is complex, and it takes time to sort fact from fiction, but we are confident we will make arrests.”
Hawi was once convicted of the 2009 Sydney Airport murder of rival bikie Anthony Zervas but the charge was downgraded to manslaughter.
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SPECIAL INVESTIGATION
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