Bilal Haouchar negotiated $1m payment that’s bankrolling alleged triple shooter’s life on the run: court

Rival bikie money organised by alleged international crime boss Bilal Haouchar is subsidising the fugitive life of a man accused of shooting three innocent people at Greenacre last year, a court has been told.

Accused international crime boss Bilal Haouchar allegedly brokered a $1 million peace deal between two warring underworld groups after three innocent people were shot in a gangland hit gone wrong, a Sydney court has heard.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal police will allege the money was paid by the Comancheros to accused Sydney drug dealer Ammar Chahal - and is now being used to bankroll a new life overseas for the alleged gunman in the shooting, Anthony Pele.

The NSW Supreme Court heard authorities were left reeling in July last year when an alleged dispute between the Comancheros and Chahal, who is allegedly linked to the Haouchar organised crime network, led to the horror shooting at Greenacre.

Bilal Haouchar, pictured, is alleged to have organised negotiated a ceasefire between the two warring parties.

Haouchar was in Lebanon at the time.

Ahmad Al-Azzam 25, was killed and Kaashif Richards, 22, and Achiraya Jantharat, 19, were seriously injured in the incident, which occurred just after 2 o’clock in the morning.

Police claim the trio were innocent bystanders caught in the cross hairs of a revenge hit after Chahal learned he was the intended target of a botched kidnap attempt by Comanchero associates four days earlier.

According to court documents, Chahal and several close friends, including Anthony Pele and Marko Saric, allegedly hatched a plan to lure the would-be kidnappers to Chahal’s house.

Police arrest Marko Saric in December 2023. Picture by Max Mason-Hubers

However, police will allege Pele wrongly targeted cars containing Mr Al-Azzam, and Mr Richards and Miss Jantharat, after wrongly assuming they belonged to the kidnappers.

Mr Al-Azzam died from a gunshot wound to the head, while Mr Richards was left a paraplegic after a bullet went through his neck. Miss Jantharat was hit in the shoulder.

Pele and Saric left the country a week later, flying first class to Dubai.

Saric returned to Australia in September but Pele remains overseas, with police believing he is now holed up in Indonesia.

The court heard an enraged Chahal travelled to Lebanon with the alleged intention of “knocking” the Comanchero bikie he believed responsible for trying to have him kidnapped.

Detectives comb Mayvic St in Greenacre, the scene of the shootings. Picture: 9News

However, in a secretly recorded conversation with an associate, Chahal allegedly revealed Haouchar had stepped in to negotiate a ceasefire and financial compensation between the warring parties.

“This is why they [the Comancheros] wanted to come to the table, because they realised we were goin’ on with it, we were goin’ to war …. the only reason Bill wanted … the payout is because I swore that I will never let this go,” Chahal allegedly told the friend.

“He [Bilal] goes ‘what’s it gonna take for you to let go … let me get money out of them …”

Chahal allegedly told the associate he’d gotten “about a mill” from the deal, but said he didn’t intend to keep any of the money.

“I didn’t want a cent out of it … it was for Top Boy, to fund him overseas,” Chahal allegedly said.

Police will allege Top Boy was the group’s nickname for Pele.

The fresh details surrounding the case were contained in documents tendered to the Supreme Court earlier this month during Saric’s unsuccessful application for bail.

Ahmad Al-Azzam, 25, died after being shot in his car at Greenacre in July 2023. Picture: Facebook.

The court heard Saric, who along with Chahal and six others is charged with murder, attempted murder and participating in a criminal group, allegedly helped plan the shooting, then used his own vehicle as a getaway car to help Pele escape the crime scene.

Saric’s barrister argued it was not yet clear whether much of the evidence gathered by police would be admissible against Saric at trial, or whether the Crown could prove the pre-existence of an agreement between the men to kill or seriously injure the victims.

He urged the court to release Saric on strict conditional bail to attend a live-in drug rehabilitation centre.

Justice Robert Hulme refused the application, saying there was an unacceptable risk Saric might flee the jurisdiction or commit further offences if released on bail.

The cases against all co-accused will return to court in November for further mention.