Police release CCTV footage of van linked to Michael Haddad kidnapping
CCTV has been released of a van linked to the abduction of Michael Haddad whose captors threatened to cut off his fingers if a $5m ransom wasn’t paid.
NSW
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A white van could hold vital clues about a violent kidnapping and attempted extortion of a nephew of the Ibrahim family.
The victim, Michael Haddad, 21, whose father Marwan is a convicted drug dealer, was violently abducted from an underground car park in Ryde last October.
He was held for two days where he was tortured in an attempt to get his father to pay millions for his safe return. His captors threatened to cut off his fingers and ears if the money was not paid but dropped their original demand of $5 million to $2 million.
After members of the public reported the kidnapping, a strike force was formed by the state crime command.
The victim was located badly injured at East Hills, three days after he was abducted, and taken to Bankstown Hospital.
Police have now released CCTV footage of the 2016 HiAce van vehicle, believed to be associated with the incident, entering an underground car park at a unit bloke on Morrison Rd.
The video footage showed stolen number plates were fixed to the van and the front windscreen had distinctive markings.
Images taken from the CCTV footage show the white van entering the underground carpark about 8.05am.
A man wearing an orange hi-vis top can be seen sitting in the driver’s seat.
Marwan Haddad is the estranged brother-in-law of John, Sam, Michael and Fadi Ibrahim after he married their sister, Armani Stelio.
There is no suggestion anyone within the Ibrahim family has anything to do with Haddad’s offending or his son’s kidnapping.
Haddad senior was arrested in 2016 and charged with multiple offences relating to the commercial supply of cocaine where police claimed he was making $50,000 a week. He was also charged with possessing an illegal firearm and possessing explosives.
In April last year, he was hit with another raft of charges including directing a criminal group and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
On July 28, he changed his plea to guilty on all 18 drug and weapons charges and was granted bail.
At the start of this month, Haddad was jailed for a maximum of five years, with a non-parole period half that length.
No one has been charged in relation to the kidnapping.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police.
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