Police investigating whether bikie boss Mick Hawi’s extortion link to construction industry led to murder
POLICE are investigating whether the daylight execution of bikie boss Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi was linked to his role as a standover man in a construction extortion bid. It’s understood Hawi may have been trying to collect up to $500,000 before his assassination.
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POLICE are investigating whether extortion linked to the construction industry was the motive behind the brazen daylight execution of bikie boss Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi.
The Daily Telegraph understands police are investigating whether Hawi’s role as a standover man may have resulted in him being gunned down outside Rockdale Fitness First in February.
It is also understood he may have been working to collect money from someone who was involved in a dispute worth up to $500,000.
When contacted last night the police officer in charge of Hawi’s murder investigation, Detective Inspector Steve Patton, confirmed an extortion relating to the construction industry was “one line of inquiry” but that his team was still looking at several other motives.
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It was just after noon on February 15 when Hawi was shot several times as he sat alone inside his black Mercedes 4WD outside the gym on West Botany St. The former national president of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later.
Police believe the murder was carried out by two men wearing balaclavas who sped off in a grey Mercedes-Benz which was found burnt out a few streets away from the murder scene.
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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Meanwhile police have charged a former student from exclusive private school Newington College, who was a person of interest in the Hawi murder case in its early stages, with possession of an illegal firearm.
Yesterday Strike Force Amirs detectives charged Beau Redmond, 29, after he was released from hospital.
Police arrested Redmond — son of hotelier and developer Geoff Redmond — at Sydney International Airport the day after Hawi’s shooting. At the time police believed he may have been linked to the bikie’s death but have all but ruled him out.
He was held under mental health legislation since his arrest but has now been charged in relation to a loaded Desert Eagle handgun seized from a Hurstville property.