John Ibrahim caught on video ‘shooting’ friend during boys-only holiday in Phuket
ARMED with an automatic pellet gun, John Ibrahim takes aim at one of his closest friends during a wild boys-only holiday to Phuket. What they didn’t know was that an undercover cop had infiltrated their group. WATCH THE VIDEO
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WHEN you are invited on an all-expenses-paid holiday with John Ibrahim, it’s best to check the fine print.
Otherwise you could end up in a video captured on a mobile phone like one of his friends “Mim”, who is on the wrong side of Ibrahim’s wicked sense of humour — and an automatic pellet gun.
The video was filmed in late November 2016 when “Mim” was on a wild boys-only holiday with the Ibrahim clan in Thailand.
The guest list included Mr Ibrahim’s younger brothers Fadi and Michael and a select group of the family’s inner sanctum, who partied at Phuket’s $4000-a-night Villa Baan Santisuk.
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It’s a moment of boyish holiday high-jinks — a cops and robbers-style game where the group acted out a mock hostage situation straight out of a 1990s action flick with the added spice of automatic BB guns — a toy widely available in Thailand.
To the delight of his mates, “Mim” played the role of the bad guy while Mr Ibrahim was the armed hero.
Taking cover behind a glass door in one of the rooms, holding a presumably fake pistol, he shouts: “I’m scared to die!” and “I’m unarmed!” to wild laughter.
The rest of the crew cheer him with cries of “Release the child!”, “Drop the gun!” and “Don’t do it, Mimmo!”.
Eventually, he bolts through a hail of shots and somersaults behind a flower hedge before surrendering by throwing his gun onto the grass as the others break into laughter. Bending over in hysterics, John Ibrahim shouts: “How many did you get hit? Honestly?”
What the tight-knit group didn’t know was one of them was an undercover cop who had infiltrated their party and joined them on the holiday, which began on November 23, 2016, a police fact sheet tendered to court said.
It is not known who filmed the scene or on what date it was captured on the holiday, which ran until December 2, 2016. The Sunday Telegraph was anonymously sent a copy of the video.
When contacted, Mr Ibrahim declined to comment and there is no suggestion he had any involvement in illegal activity.
Court documents said the guest list included Mr Ibrahim’s friend and former business partner Mim Salvato, however it is not confirmed that he is the man in the video.
It took less than two weeks for the undercover cop to allegedly win the trust of Michael Ibrahim.
According to the documents, the undercover cop was invited on the holiday in the days after he was introduced to Michael at the Sheraton on the Park Hotel in Sydney’s CBD on November 10, 2016.
By November 27, the undercover was embedded in the holiday villa and watching the Ibrahims and their friends at play, partying hard with their guards down.
The man who introduced Michael to the undercover was Ibrahim family friend and former eastern suburbs real estate agent Ryan Watsford, court documents said.
The Thailand trip had been pre-booked and paid for by Michael and Watsford, court documents said. But, in the days leading up to the trip, the undercover was invited to join them.
The trio was part of an undercover operation that spanned more than a year and was known as Operation Veyda.
It resulted in Michael Ibrahim being charged with allegedly masterminding an international smuggling syndicate that tried to import almost two tonnes of drugs plus illegal tobacco into Australia.
Brother Fadi was charged with allegedly financing one of the tobacco imports. Both brothers are preparing to fight the charges.
A host of others were also charged, including Watsford, who last week told a court he will plead guilty to his role.