‘Unemployed’ crook Richad Alameddine brags about wealth during Merrylands arrest

The senior Alameddine crime crew member boasted how he made more money in a week than the three Raptor squad officers arresting him did in a year.

A senior member of the Alameddine crime crew bragged about earning more money in a week than three policemen combined in a year, despite officially being “unemployed” and “living with his parents”.

Richad Alameddine, 30, was in the middle of a stand-off with police over Covid breaches on a Merrylands street in Sydney’s west last month when he boasted about his wealth to a 23-year-old woman he was with.

“All three police combined, I make more in a week than they make in a year,” Richad told her.

Aside from being arrogant, the declaration – made within earshot of the three members of the NSW Police Raptor Squad – is made all the more curious by the fact court papers list Richad as “unemployed” and his home as being his parents’ address.

Richad Alameddine (front, facing camera) bragged about earning more money in a week than three policemen combined in a year, despite officially being “unemployed” and “living with his parents”. Picture: AAP

Left to right: Alameddine crew members Richad, Jihad, Ali Younes (aka: Ay Huncho), Hamdi and Rafat

Richad pleaded guilty late last month in Fairfield Local Court to six offences relating to both breaches of Covid restrictions and breaking rules as a pedestrian.

The incident began when police conducting patrols around Merrylands – the Alameddine crew’s heartland – noticed Richad standing at the intersection of Lockwood St and Leeds St talking on the phone, while at the same time smoking a cigarette.

When he saw police he walked over to a car and was handed a mask by the woman inside.

Knowing he is subject to a firearm prohibitions order (FPO), police approached Richad and searched him.

Tensions spiked when officers asked both Richad and the younger woman what they were doing together in a Covid hotspot.

Showing the strains of the pressure that has been put on them by police in a bid to quell their tit-for-tat war between the rival Alameddine and Hamzy clans, Richad “spat” at the Raptor Squad officers before making a series of obscene claims about their boss, one of the state’s top cops Jason Weinstein.

Before his arrest, Richad made obscene comments to the Strike Force Raptor officers about their boss Detective Superintendent Jason Weinstein. Weinstein (front) is pictured with Neil Hallinan (left) and Peter Walke (right). Picture: Sam Ruttyn

After spitting at one of the officers, court documents state that with his left fist Richad performed a “jerking motion”.

He then told the officers: “Go and suck Weinstein’s d***”.

Court documents state that after continuing to call the officers “pigs” he then refused to correctly wear his face mask, before standing in the middle of the road and staring down police.

Richad was represented by solicitor Abdul Saddik when he faced Fairfield Local Court last month, pleading guilty to two counts of breaching Covid restrictions, two pedestrian offences and two counts of behaving in an offensive manner or using offensive language.

He was convicted on each count and fined a combined $3050.

Richad Alameddine (front, wearing jeans) leaves court earlier this year over a separate matter alongside his solicitor Abdul Saddik (centre).

As part of their crackdown on the Hamzy and Alameddine crews since the beginning of lockdown early last year, Richad’s criminal record shows he has been guilty of almost 20 infractions.

Many of them are minor including traffic offences and even parking his vehicle across a marked space and Covid breaches, but all are part of an effort by police to ensure every move of the warring crime groups at the centre of the feud is scrutinised.

In total he has been fined more than $6200.