Dimitri Kentrotis: Reserve Hotels ex director on gun, intimidation charges

A businessman allegedly told a worker he was going to shoot him and “every member of your family” as part of a bitter boardroom feud over the running of a pub empire, a court heard.

A former director of a multimillion-dollar pub empire allegedly showcased guns and threatened to put a bullet in the head of an employee, a court has heard.

Dimitri Kentrotis, a 42-year-old father and former director of Reserve Hotels, is accused of flaunting two separate guns to senior employees on two different occasions.

On one occasion, after quoting a line from the hit movie Scarface, he allegedly pointed a loaded gun at Reserve Hotels director of operations David Highet and head accountant Cheng ‘Jimmy’ Wong.

The allegations were contained in evidence by the two employees at a hearing at Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.

Kentrotis has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Dimitri Kentrotis is accused of unlawfully possessing a gun. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

The Bondi Junction man’s barrister Phillip Boulten SC told the court the story behind the allegations was a “very, very bitter family feud”, and submitted that the alleged victims made up the entire story to support the family faction they were loyal to.

Mr Boulten SC told the court the family dispute had seen pub patriarch Nick Balagiannis oust his own wife Sue, daughters Mary and Angeliki and son-in-law Kentrotis from the company board over a disagreement to sell Sydney pub Mr B’s during the height of COVID-19.

Kentrotis’ defence team pushed the case that Mr Highet and Mr Wong were loyal to Mr Balagiannis as he “was the future” as sole owner of the company they worked for, and the pair had completely made up the allegations.

Three businessmen, port and an alleged gun

Reserve Hotel’s director of operations David Highet gave evidence at the hearing he had taken an Uber to Kentrotis’ Bondi Junction home for an afternoon meeting on March 27 last year.

The South Australian-based man said he was sitting at his boss’s living room table with company consultant Pasquale Rumoro when Kentrotis came downstairs with a rectangular metal container. He opened the box and allegedly pulled out a gun.

Mr Highet said the men discussed the price of the weapon – which Kentrotis allegedly said was bought for $25,000 – and took turns trying to fix a faulty clip.

The senior employee said the trio ultimately moved on from the gun and returned to business, enjoying a glass of port at the end of the meeting.

Mr Boulten asked the senior employee how, when he first made a police statement three months later on July 10, he forgot to mention the entire incident. Mr Highet accepted he had not mentioned it.

Kentrotis denies the charge of unlawful firearm possession.

“Say hello to my little friend”

The hearing heard evidence on the night of May 20, Mr Highet, Mr Wong and Kentrotis were alone in Reserve Hotels old head office at Castlereagh St, Sydney.

Both Mr Highet and Mr Wong gave evidence how a friendly Kentrotis invited the employees into his office for what they believed to be a meeting, before their boss pulled out a revolver-like gun from a bag.

The two senior employees told the court Kentrotis loaded the gun in front of them.

“At some point I recall him quoting a line from a movie,” Mr Highet told the court, later revealing the line to be “say hello to my little friend” from 1983 blockbuster Scarface.

The Bondi Junction man is defending all charges.

The director of operations gave evidence Kentrotis put the gun in his right hand and raised it, pointing it at the employees.

“I made the comment that I thought the number one cardinal sin of gun safety is to not point a loaded weapon,” Mr Highet said. Mr Wong also told the court he recalled his colleague saying words of similar effect.

The two employees gave evidence the then-Reserve Hotels director allegedly replied, words to the effect of, “don’t worry, the safety is on”.

Mr Wong told the court the gun was pointed at the right side of his chest for a few seconds, with the entire incident inside Kentrotis’ office lasting about five minutes.

Kentrotis has pleaded not guilty to the incident.

“A bullet in your head”

Mr Highet gave evidence he was working at the new Pitt St office in the middle of the year when his colleague Mr Wong opened up a Wickr message and read it aloud.

“You are both finished. I am going to destroy you both,” the message from Kentrotis allegedly said, Mr Highet told the court.

A second message, in which Kentrotis is also accused of sending, was also read out to Highet by Wong. It said: “I am going to put a bullet in your head and a bullet in every member of your family”.

Kentrotis allegedly threatened to put a bullet in a man’s head. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

Mr Highet gave evidence he didn’t personally see the messages but his colleague became “extremely upset” and began pacing the room.

“I believe he (Mr Wong) said, ‘what the f**k’”, Mr Highet told the court.

Mr Wong gave evidence he had received the threats and tried to show Mr Highet, who he was with at the time. When asked by the police prosecutor how he felt on receiving the alleged threat, he said he was “shaken” and “quite scared”.

The head accountant told the hearing he had downloaded the Wickr phone application on the instruction of Kentrotis, who also asked him to set the auto-delete function for text messages to the shortest “burn” time possible. Mr Highet gave evidence he was also asked by Kentrotis to download the Wickr phone application but had technical difficulties as he had used his personal email address and was identifiable.

Kentrotis has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A bitter family feud

Kentrotis’ defence team pushed the case Mr Highet and Mr Wong were loyal to Mr Balagiannis as he “was the future” and questioned the integrity of the two men.

Mr Boulten put to Mr Highet he had communicated legal advice, which had been given to Sue Balagiannis about potential family law proceedings at the height of the feud, directly to her husband Nick. Mr Highet said he was aware Ms Balagiannis had received legal advice, but denied passing it on to her husband.

Both men gave evidence they were aware of talk the Reserve Hotels company and Mr Wong were being investigated by the Australian Federal Police for money laundering, a rumour later found to be false.

Mr Boulten put to Mr Wong that when he spoke to Kentrotis about the investigation the accountant had said he was worried about his visa status. The accountant denied this, giving evidence he was a permanent resident and had no reason to be concerned about his visa status.

Mr Wong said he was never asked directly by Kentrotis if he was involved in money laundering, but was asked if he had been hanging out with the “wrong people”.

The accountant gave evidence he told Kentrotis the only possible bad influences were Chinese billionaires who he had been playing poker with at the casino, who he didn’t really know.

Mr Boulten also asked Mr Wong if he had stolen money from the company. The employee said he had “borrowed” money, which he had since paid back.

Kentrotis has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including possessing an unauthorised firearm, using a carriage service to menace or harass, and intimidation. The hearing before Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge will continue in September.