No middle ground in Hamzy-Alameddine war for businessman with price on his head
A Sydney businessman has found himself in the middle of the war between the Hamzy and Alameddine crime families, with a $1 million bounty allegedly placed on his head.
NSW
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A Sydney businessman has found himself in the middle of the war between the Hamzy and Alameddine crime families, with a $1 million bounty allegedly being placed on his head.
Mustafa Ramlawie has discovered there is no middle ground in the alleged murderous war between the two Western Sydney families.
The current climate appears to be: Pick a side or die.
Sources said Mr Ramlawie, who runs a company that leases excavators and other heavy machinery, has been a long-time friend of the Alameddine family and has been pictured with senior members of the clan, including Mohamad Alameddine.
In more recent times, he has also forged friendships with members of the Hamzy family, whose leader is jailed murderer and crime boss Bassam Hamzy.
But lately, Mr Ramlawie has not made contact with the Hamzy family.
This appears to have created a problem, with the Hamzys allegedly interpreting the lack of contact as Mr Ramlawie choosing to side with the Alameddines.
The Hamzys have allegedly reacted by putting out a contract to have Mr Ramlawie murdered.
The 33-year-old claims he was warned by police this week that intelligence had emerged that said members of the Hamze clan had put a $1 million contract out on his life.
It is understood the reason for the hit allegedly being taken out is that the Hamzy family are treating any friend of the Alameddines as an enemy.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing or criminality by Mr Ramlawie.
Mr Ramlawie would not speak directly to The Sunday Telegraph and instead instructed his solicitor, Paul McGirr, to issue a statement.
“All I can say is that I can confirm that the police have made us aware of intelligence that there has been a $1 million contract taken out on my client’s life and that he doesn’t want to comment in any way,” Mr McGirr said.
NSW Police were contacted for comment yesterday.
The Hamzy family has taken heavy losses in the past year.
Senior members have been picked off in executions that investigation police suspect are linked to a long time dispute with the Alameddine family.
The most recent death was that of Ghassan Amoun — the brother of Bassam Hamzy — who was shot dead as he left a South Wentworthville beauty salon on January 6.
Amoun’s cousin, and senior gang leader, Bilal Hamze, was murdered when he stepped out of a Sydney CBD restaurant last June. Bassam’s other brother, Mejid Hamzy was murdered at his Condell Park home on October 21.
Since then, it appears that battle lines have been drawn.
Which now presents a deadly problem for Mr Ramlawie.
It is also understood that Mohamad Alameddine is also a target and has allegedly been included in the $1 million contract taken out on Ramlawie.
However, it is not known if each man as a $1 million on their head or if the price is for the murder of both men.
Another murder that is suspected to be part of the war is that of father and son, Toufik and Salim Hamze, who were killed in a daylight shooting in Guilford on October 20.
Hamze, an 18-year-old who was allegedly being groomed for a senior role in the family, and his 64-year-old father were getting into a ute at 8.55am when they were shot.
One of the remaining senior members of the Hamzy family is Ibrahem Hamze who has survived two attempts on his life.
The most recent of which was in August when gunmen are believed to have been preparing to kill him at North Sydney only to flee when a patrolling police car spooked them.
Ibrahem was one of three targets of the Alameddine family in a police document tendered to the NSW Supreme Court.
The other two on the list — Bilal Hamze and Ghassan Amoun — are already dead.
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