Lucky Gattellari accused of plot to extort $50m from Ron Medich
EVEN the finest of Underbelly writers would struggle to dream up a plot involving two killer cops, a murderous property developer, a former Qantas steward, the late Premier Neville Wran and a man named Shayne.
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EVEN the finest of Underbelly writers would struggle to dream up a plot involving two killer cops, a murderous property developer, a former Qantas steward, the late Premier Neville Wran and a man named Shayne.
But today a Sydney jury heard about an alleged plot in which one-time boxer and former Qantas steward Lucky Gattellari used some of Sydney’s most notorious underworld figures in an attempt to extort up to $50 million from killer property developer Ron Medich.
They also heard about how Gattellari, 68, had written his plan on a series of handwritten notes with one entitled, “Trap for Ron Medich with Roger Rogerson”.
Today the prosecution outlined a case in which Lucky Gattellari had asked his friend Ron Medich for $1 million to help with his legal fees and bail after he had been charged with the 2009 murder of Sydney businessman and loan shark Michael McGurk.
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But the money never came through and Gattellari later became the star witness in the prosecution case against Medich in return for a lighter sentence for his role in McGurk’s execution.
During his opening address to a jury today, Crown prosecutor Darren Robinson said Gattellari hatched a plan with a fellow inmate in 2013 to get money from Ron Medich in return for changing his evidence against him at trial.
“It is the Crown case that in 2013, Lucky Gattellari, Frank Gattellari and Robert McCarthy formed an agreement to approach Ron Medich via members of his family seeking payment of money through representations regarding the evidence Lucky Gattellari was to give in Ron Medich prosecution,” Mr Robinson said.
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Mr Robinson said the first attempt involved a demand for $10 million, which was later upped to $15 million, and involved Mr Gattellari’s brother Frank and his fellow Long Bay jail inmate Robert McCarthy.
The court heard the second plot involved a $30 to $50 million demand and involved killer cops Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara, Gattellari’s fellow Cooma jail inmate Shayne Hatfield and his girlfriend at the time, Linda Monfrooy.
Mr Robinson said the first plot involved a meeting between Robert McCarthy and Ron Medich’s son Peter at a cafe in Norton Plaza, Leichhardt on July 13, 2012.
Peter Medich is expected to give evidence about how Mr McCarthy gave him a handwritten note at the meeting which outlined how Ron Medich was “in a lot of trouble and he will go to goal unless you move forward with what is in the note.”
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He recalled the note said: “The evidence against [Ron Medich] is not worth a cracker without my testimony” and that Medich would have to pay $10 million for the author to “do what he was prepared to do”.
The court also heard about how Mr McCarthy met with an undercover police officer known as “George” who purported to be acting on behalf of the Medich family.
During a meeting at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair in August 2013, the undercover officer is expected to give evidence about how a plan was discussed for Gattellari to throw his evidence in return for an “astronomical figure”.
“It’s very easy … once you lie in front of a jury and start makin’ mistakes, mate that’s reasonable doubt,” Mr McCarthy said.
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“He’s got to lie. He’s gunna lie and make mistakes, and then … it’ll just unravel.”
The plan never went ahead after a failed meeting between the undercover cop and Frank Gattellari in a western Sydney park in December, 2013.
The jury was told that not long after the first attempted extortion, Lucky Gattellari was transferred to Cooma jail where fellow inmate Shayne Hatfield.
It is the Crown case Hatfield got his then girlfriend Linda Monfrooy to contact disgraced former detective turned killer Roger Rogerson to help Gattellari in his plan to blackmail Medich.
Eventually Lucky and Frank Gattellari, Linda Monfrooy, Shayne Hatfield, Rogerson and killer cop Glenn McNamara all met in April 2014 during in the visitor’s area at Cooma jail but their meeting was broken up by a prison officer.
McNamara was arrested on his return to Sydney and charged with the murder of university student Jamie Gao. Rogerson was apprehended a short time later.
After their arrest it is alleged an associate of Gattellari named Joseph Prestia, approached Ron Medich’s brother Roy at the funeral of the late former Premier Neville Wran on May 1, 2014.
The dined together after the funeral and 11 days later Mr Prestia presented Ron Medich with a handwritten note at his office in The Rocks.
It is expected the jury will be presented evidence about the letter which referred to:
*A history of demands including the initial request for $1 million
*A subsequent request for $10 million which was upped to $15 million
*The present demand for $30 million which would go up to $50 million in three days
*Instructions about how the payment of $30 million should be paid through the transfer of “blue chip shares” to Linda Monfrooy
Gattellari, 68, has pleaded not guilty to being involved in plots in 2013 and 2014 and told police that he never “had any intent to accept anything from Medich” and that his only intention was to “to get Ron Medich to be caught with his hand in the till”.
Shayne Hatfield, 53, and Linda Monfrooy, 55, have pleaded not guilty to being part of the 2014 plot.
The trial, which is expected to run for up to six weeks, continues before Judge Penelope Hock.