Bikies in NSW and ACT: Past and present leaders of outlaw motorcycle gangs revealed
From a chapter president who doubles as an underwear model to a national leader who took the reins from his exiled uncle, these are some of the most prominent bikies in NSW and the ACT.
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The inner-workings of outlaw motorcycle gangs and the people who lead them can be shrouded in secrecy.
Often the highest-ranking bikies keep the lowest profiles, and those in charge won’t publicly admit their roles.
These are some of the state’s top bikies, past and present, including those who are leading local chapters to the national presidents.
CURRENT
Damien Vella
Rank: Rebels national president
Age: Unknown
About the Rebels
Founded: Brisbane, 1969
Patch: A confederate flag with a skull wearing a cap
Prevalence: Statewide
Eamon Mulgrew
Rank: Finks Lower Mountains chapter president
Age: 25
About the Finks
Founded: Adelaide, 1969
Patch: ‘Bung’ from the Wizard of Id cartoon, after which the gang is named
Prevalence: Statewide, including Sydney, the Hunter Valley, and the north and south coasts
Darin Keir
Rank: Satudarah Canberra chapter president
Age: 41
About Satudarah
Founded: Netherlands, 1990 and only taking off in Australia in the past decade
Patch: Two Native American faces directed outwards
Prevalence: Sydney, Canberra and northern NSW
Bradley Duff
Rank: Bandidos Sydney chapter president
Age: 46
About the Bandidos
Founded: Texas USA, 1966 and later Sydney, 1983
Patch: ‘Fat Mexican’, a bandit pictured holding a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other
Prevalence: Statewide, including Sydney, the Hunter Valley, and the north and south coasts
FORMER
Moudi Tajjour
Moudi Tajjour rose to prominence after briefly marrying Salim Mehajer’s sister Sanaa.
He was also convicted and jailed for the 2006 fatal stabbing of Robin Nassour, the younger brother of Fat Pizza star George.
Tajjour became the Nomads national president in 2018 before sensationally quitting the club.
The 37-year-old now has a cult following on Instagram, as well as a popular podcast and is working on a book.
About the Nomads
Founded: Sydney, 1980
Patch: A skull wearing a helmet with wings and a swastika
Prevalence: Statewide, with large representations in Western Sydney and the Hunter Valley
Graeme McGilvray
Rumoured ex-president of the Hells Angels South Coast chapter, Graeme McGilvray, has the club’s logo tattooed on the side of his head.
McGilvray avoided jail time late last year as he was sentenced for head-butting a man during a violent pub brawl at Huskisson.
His lawyer told a court he was under the influence of cocaine and alcohol when he approached a group of men who had been “staring” at him on January 24, 2020.
McGilvray, a father who police labelled in their documents a “violent offender”, said he’d quit drugs and drinking since the assault.
After pleading guilty to affray, the 33-year-old was sentenced to a two-year intensive corrections order and 200 hours of community service.
It’s believed McGilvray has since fled the Hells Angels club.
About Hells Angels
Founded: Sydney and Melbourne, 1975, after starting in the USA
Patch: The Hells Angels ‘Death Head’
Prevalence: Statewide
Bradley Bowtell
Bradley Bowtell joined the Newcastle City chapter of the Nomads around 2014 after being recruited at a Hunter Valley gym.
He quickly climbed the hierarchy and was appointed the chapter’s leader.
Bowtell, now 37, led the club through a violent war with the Finks that saw his Singleton Heights home shot up in 2018.
The same year he was issued a Serious Crime Prevention Order by the NSW Supreme Court, banning him from associating with other bikies.
Bowtell, who was earlier this month convicted of drug supply, recently told a court he’d been manipulated into joining the club, and the court mandate banning him from club activities had been a good excuse to leave the Nomads and his role as president.
Alex Vella
Alex Vella, known as ‘the Maltese Falcon’, joined the Rebels in 1972, starting the Sydney chapter and eventually becoming national president.
In 2014 while visiting his home country of Malta, Vella’s visa was cancelled, meaning he was unable to return to Australia.
He has remained exiled in Malta ever since, handing over the club to his nephew Damien.
During his reign, Vella Sr amassed millions of dollars in property, motorcycles and from membership dues.
Despite his exile, he still identifies as a Rebel and wears the club’s clothing.
Since handing over the club to ‘Big D’, its numbers have dwindled from 2000 as its peak, to about 450.
Troy Cusens
Troy Cusens was president of the Rebels’ Mt Druitt chapter in 2015 when the club’s internal justice system was revealed in a court hearing.
Parramatta Local Court heard Cusens had been summoned to a Western Sydney restaurant by the club’s national leader Damein Vella, and told to bring his colours, as the result of an alleged altercation with another club member.
Cusens then called a different club member concerned, asking if he’d said anything to Vella.
Cusens has since left the club but is still making headlines.
Earlier this year was jailed for a violent assault on his girlfriend.
Cusens broke the woman’s wrist and pushed her down a flight of stairs after accusing her of stealing his drug stash.
He was sentenced to 14 months behind bars, unsuccessfully appealing for his penalty to be reduced to an intensive corrections order.
Mark Buddle
Mark Buddle was national president of the Comancheros before left Australia a decade ago, wanted by police for questioning over the fatal shooting of Chubb security guard Gary Allibon.
Buddle, 42, reportedly worth $100 million, had been living a life of luxury in Dubai, laying low until last month when video of an altercation between the former bikie and a group of tourists was posted online.
Buddle has since left Dubai for Iraq, feeling the feat from worldwide AN0M raids.
His wife Mel Ter Wisscha is said to be organising paperwork for herself and their two children to return to Australia.
In 2018, despite living overseas, Buddle reportedly sent a text to Comancheros stating, “I’m the f**king commander of the world … no one is to touch another member or set up another chapter without my permission.”
About Comanchero
Founded: Sydney, 1966
Patch: A condor on a red, yellow and black background
Prevalence: Statewide, but heavily centred in Sydney
Sam Ibrahim
Former Nomads Parramatta chapter president Sam Ibrahim is currently housed in a detention centre, fighting deportation to his birth country of Lebanon.
Ibrahim, the brother of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim, was flown to Perth by bikie cops Strike Force Raptor, after his release from prison.
He was sentenced to up to nine years behind bars after being caught in a police sting conspiring to supply guns, and was last year paroled.
Ibrahim’s visa was cancelled in 2015 due to his extensive criminal history.
The 55-year-old has four children to his Australian wife.
DECEASED
Bodie Dwyer
Finks Tamworth City chapter president Bodie Dwyer was killed in January after crashing a Harley Davidson into a road barrier in the Hunter Valley.
Dwyer had been visiting Cessnock Finks members before heading out about 4am on January 27, on a motorcycle belonging to fellow bikie Benjamin Main.
Dwyer was travelling at high speed when he crashed, thrown from the bike into long grass.
Despite the efforts of passers-by and emergency workers, he died at the scene.
Finks gathered at the crash scene the following day, placing 13 balloons – the number 13 is significant to outlaw bikie gangs.
The motorcycle club’s “world president” Kosh Radford was among those who turned out for the Lake Macquarie funeral.
Strike Force Raptor was also in attendance, handing out 15 traffic infringements, 11 defects and 14 consorting warnings.
Fink Benjamin Main witnessed Dwyer’s dying moments and later spoke in court about the post traumatic stress he suffered as a result.
Shane De Britt
Bandidos Central West chapter president Shane De Britt was shot dead at his rural property near Wellington last year.
Emergency services were called to the farmhouse on January 14 to find 60-year-old De Britt dead with a bullet wound to his head.
Police allege he had been taken out in an execution-style murder while he slept.
Strike Force Kerrison was established to investigate the alleged murder.
Mick Hawi
Mick Hawi was the Comancheros’ national president, having taken over from Mark Buddle, when he was gunned down outside a gym in 2018.
The 37-year-old died in a hail of bullets while seated in his Mercedes at Fitness First Rockdale on February 15, 2018.
The attack was caught on CCTV.
Lone Wolf bikie Ahmad Doudar, 40, was jailed for at least three years after pleading guilty to accessory after the fact to murder, for helping dispose of the getaway car.
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