Missing $570 likely used to buy shotgun days before Lindt Siege
THE shotgun used by terrorist Man Monis during the Lindt cafe siege was sold to him for $570 by a well-known Middle Eastern crime family, police have revealed. Exactly how Monis obtained the deadly weapon has been a mystery.
NSW
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A WELL-KNOWN Middle Eastern crime family sold a shotgun to terrorist Man Monis in the days before the deadly Lindt cafe siege, senior NSW police believe.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that police received information which led them to investigate links between Monis and the crime family, based in Sydney’s southwest, after Monis used the gun to execute cafe manager Tori Johnson.
“We are pretty confident they provided the gun to him,’’ one officer involved in the investigation said.
But, he said, police had so far been unable to charge anyone, adding: “Monis is dead and the criminals certainly are not going to admit it.”
While an inquest into the December 2014 siege found it was likely that Monis spent $570 on the gun in the 48 hours before the siege, the source of the weapon had not been established.
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Another officer said it was widely accepted by those involved in the investigation that the La Salle 12-gauge shotgun was bought from the family, probably the day before the siege.
“We had intelligence indicating they were involved but not enough to charge anyone,’’ he said.
“Whether they knew what he was up to, I doubt we will ever know.”
Friday marks the third anniversary of the siege, in which Monis took 18 people hostage inside the Martin Place cafe just after 9.45am.
Most of the hostages escaped before police stormed the cafe about 2am the following day, after Monis shot dead Mr Johnson, 34. Monis was killed by police. Barrister Katrina Dawson, 38, was killed by bullet fragments. Police are continuing to investigate how Monis got the weapon.
“The case is not closed,’’ another detective said.
An underworld source said some members of the family were extremist Muslims known to sympathise with the terrorist cause. They also are well-known suppliers of illegal weapons.
In his report, Coroner Michael Barnes said he believed that Monis probably bought the gun in the days before the siege. Police found $210 cash on him after his death but bank and ATM records indicate he had about $850 two days beforehand.
After buying the backpack also used in the siege, Monis should have had $780 left and Mr Barnes surmised it was possible the missing $570 was used to buy the gun.
Mr Barnes also noted Monis’s premises were searched earlier that year and no weapons were found, supporting the theory it was bought just before the siege.
Clashes outside US Embassy in Beirut
Mr Barnes said despite extensive inquiries the source of the weapon was never established.
The scenario of it being linked to a crime family was echoed in another, unrelated, terrorist attack.
Police allege a member of the Allamedine Middle Eastern crime family, who are not alleged to have sold the gun to Monis, supplied the revolver that was then given to teenage terrorist Fahad Jabar, 15, and used to kill police employee Curtis Cheng in October 2015.
