The Snitch: Royal Court Escorts agency owner surfaces interstate
The escort agency owner who was sued by a Chinese businessman for allegedly failing on a $3.7 million deal where he was promised “sexual services” by celebrities and models including Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel may have surfaced interstate.
NSW
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The Snitch has been told the escort agency owner who was sued by a Chinese businessman for allegedly failing on a $3.7 million deal to give him a night between the sheets with Miranda Kerr may have surfaced interstate.
The businessman Yu “Martin” Xu sued North Sydney-based agency Royal Court Escorts in a bid to recoup the $3.724 million he claims to have paid to have sex with “international female movie stars and models”.
Mr Xu claimed he was also promised “sexual services” by Hollywood starlets Megan Fox and Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel.
But after several no-shows by the escort agency, the NSW Supreme Court case was discontinued last year.
According to ASIC records, the parent company is owned by Sydney businessman Diljit Singh Uppal.
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An interstate Snitch correspondent reported to us that they have been contacted by a man of the same name wanting to do business.
We’ll keep you posted if he pokes his head up again. There is no suggestion any of the women work as escorts or had any knowledge of the alleged deal.
CRIMS, COURTS AND COFFEE
In the legal world, Tasz Andreolas’s cafe is considered by his customers to be a demilitarised zone.
Most of his clientele are lawyers, cops, judges and crims. And when they down tools and stop fighting it out across the road in the state’s busiest court complex, they’re often found in his cafe.
It makes for an unusual melting pot, where you can find a judge lining up to buy a coffee behind a gangster who’s facing drug charges.
“We’re like the Switzerland of the legal process,” Mr Andreolas said.
“We don’t get involved but when they stop arguing in court they’re welcome to have a coffee and some of mum’s moussaka.”
Known as Miss Carter, the shoebox-sized cafe on Castlereagh St in the Sydney CBD is across the road from the Downing Centre court complex and has a cult following among the legal fraternity.
“I love that it’s this social hub of very diverse people — some of them very powerful,” Mr Andreolas said.
“Usually they don’t talk shop, it’ll be about sports, like rugby league. I don’t know a lot of them by surname or job title.”
One memorable customer (before he was assassinated) was mafia figure Pasquale Barbaro.
“He was wearing this baby blue suit with his big muscles showing,” he said.
“He had the haloumi and lamb salad and paid with a $100 note.”
So, are there any patterns to the coffee orders?
“Barristers always order the hard coffees: piccolo, a short black or double espressos,” he said.
The name of the cafe is a tribute to his mother.
“Lynda Carter was Wonder Woman on TV in the ’70s and my mum’s my Wonder Woman, so it’s a homage to her for everything she’s done for me,” Mr Andreolas said.
BAD COP
This is a classic tale of a good cop gone bad. Former NSW Police officer David Redshaw can kiss the next six years of his life goodbye after he was sentenced for
large-scale money laundering and drug supply this month.
Redshaw, whose short career in the police included a stint in Maroubra, was part of a syndicate that sent drug mules to Thailand to smuggle cocaine back into Sydney on planes. The 33-year-old came undone when the Vietnamese syndicate that was cleaning his
cash came under the notice of the Organised Crime Squad in 2015.
For taking part in drug supply and dealing with proceeds of crime, Redshaw won’t be eligible for parole until 2023.
WILLING AND ABLE
The leadership rumour mill has kicked into gear with a reshuffle of top brass portfolios in the force.
After 17 months as the state’s counter-terrorism boss, Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing will be moved to head the Central Metropolitan Region — also known as the “Commissioner’s training ground”.
The busiest region in the state, which carries the responsibility of making sure Sydney’s drawcard events such as New Year’s Eve are trouble-free, was home to now-Commissioner Mick Fuller before he took the top job. Retired Deputy Commissioners Dave Owens and Cath Burn also nailed promotions after stints at “Central Met”.
Willing will do a direct swap with current region boss, straight-shooting Assistant Commissioner Mark Walton, who will take over the cloak-and-dagger CT command. The rumour is the strategic swap is putting the right contenders in place before the forecast retirement of Deputy Commissioners Jeff Loy and Gary Warboys in the next two years.
PICTURE THIS …
Now to the continuing saga of the portrait of the former senior crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC inside the Director of Public Prosecutions’ Sydney headquarters.
The painting had adorned a pillar in the office until several months after Mr Tedeschi left the DPP. It went missing and was later found in a cupboard, with many insiders suggesting foul play was involved.
The painting was returned to its place on the pillar, only to be removed again. Eyebrows were raised recently when its space was filled with a picture of Crown Prosecutor David Patch playing soccer.
But now the picture of Mr Patch has also been removed and replaced by a mirror. Some say it might be a motivational exercise by the DPP hierarchy to let the troops see their face in the space previously occupied by the state’s top prosecutor. Hmmm …
GOT A SNITCH? Contact Ava.benny-morrison@news.com.au or Brenden.hills@news.com.au