How Fadi Ibrahim’s $300k got stuck in the account of a nervous family gofer

When Fadi Ibrahim needed his $300k transferred back to him, the nervous hand of an Ibrahim family underling resulted in farcical scenes playing out inside numerous Sydney CBD banks.

Fadi Ibrahim, the younger brother of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim, is the last of a long line to be sentenced after one of the most successful undercover police operations in Australia’s history.

All up 20 people were arrested in the August 2017 raids with a significant chunk of Sydney‘s extended Ibrahim clan and an all star cast of Sydney underworld figures ending up in jail.

Fadi’s younger brother Michael Ibrahim was jailed for 25 years for attempting to smuggle almost two tonnes of drugs and millions of dollars worth of cigarettes.

Fadi pleaded guilty to giving Michael $800,000 that was reasonably suspected of being used for illegal activity.

The crown has accepted Fadi’s plea on the basis that he did not know how Michael was going to use his money.

Ultimately, Fadi’s money went towards the purchase of 900,000 packets of illegal cigarettes.

Once Michael sold the cigarettes for $6.75 million, the big challenge was getting Fadi’s money back into his bank account without creating a suspicious paper trail.

With Fadi due to be sentenced on April 26, Senior reporter Brenden Hills reveals the farcical scenes that followed.

PERFORMANCE ANXIETY

Fadi Ibrahim was facing a major problem — an Ibrahim family gofer had become so nervous inside a bank that he couldn’t sign his own name.

And now $300,000 of Fadi’s money was stuck in the bank account of the man who was a proven thief.

Standing several inches south of six feet, Fadi is the smallest of the four Ibrahim brothers and still suffers serious health issues from when he was shot by an unidentified assassin as he sat in his Lamborghini outside his North Shore mansion in 2009.

But at 12.40pm on July 17, 2017, the younger brother of one-time Kings Cross nightclub boss John Ibrahim was showing no ill effects from his brush with death.

Fadi’s agitated state was being driven by one factor: The incompetence of Ibrahim family errand boy Doug Franklin (Name has been changed to compl-publication order).

Franklin didn’t deal well with pressure. And his inept performance was being driven by his longtime fear of disappointing Fadi who was stoking Franklin’s anxiety by yelling at him.

Franklin, whose portly figure had earned him the nickname “Sluggo” (changed for non publication order), was in possession of $300,000 that belonged to Fadi.

It came to be in Franklin’s bank account because, in May 2017, Fadi drew down his mortgage to lend to his younger brother, Michael, $800,000.

Fadi’s loan to Michael was an attempt to help his sibling re-establish himself financially after being released from prison, according to tendered court documents, according to material tendered in court.

Fadi didn’t give the money directly to Michael. He transferred it to the bank accounts of Ibrahim family shit kickers Franklin and Toby Lesnewski, according to court documents tendered in Lesnewski’s case.

The two men then withdrew the money as cash and gave it to Michael, the documents said.

Ultimately, Michael used it to help finance a purchase of 900,000 packets of illegal cigarettes from a man who was later revealed to be an undercover cop, court documents said.

Fadi has pleaded guilty to dealing with money reasonably suspected of being the proceeds of crime over the loan. But prosecuting lawyers in the case have accepted that Fadi didn’t know what the money was going to be used for.

When Michael sold the cigarettes for $6.75 million, the $800,000 needed to be returned to Fadi so he could pay it back off his home loan, the documents said.

The money was then transferred back to Fadi via the bank accounts of Franklin, Lesnewski and others, the documents said.

It was a simple plan.

But Franklin didn’t have the competence or confidence required to pull off his part, which was to deposit $300,000 cash into his own account and then withdraw it as a bank cheque made out to Fadi.

It took visits to multiple banks before he got it right.

On the first attempt at CBA in Martin Place, the bank teller rejected Franklin’s request for the cheque after he was so nervous that he couldn’t sign his own name.

At 11.20am on July 17, 2017, Franklin walked into the branch with a bag containing the $300,000 cash, according to an agreed set of facts tendered in the court case of fellow Ibrahim family underling, Ryan Watsford.

Watsford – an Eastern Suburbs real estate agent – was equally incompetent and had been sent on the mission with Franklin.

The bank teller looked at the huge pile of money Franklin was asking to deposit into his personal account and was immediately suspicious.

Over the next excruciating period, Franklin watched as the teller counted the money and deposited it in his account.

Franklin then attempted to accomplish the second part of his mission by requesting to withdraw the money as a bank cheque made out to Fadi Ibrahim, court documents said.

For the withdrawal to occur, Franklin needed to sign his autograph on a form to get the bank to issue the cheque to Fadi.

It would also have to match the signature that the bank had on file for Franklin.

The task was too great for Franklin. His nerves were shot and his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn’t sign his own name.

According to the agreed facts from Watsford’s case, Franklin tried between six and eight times to sign his own name and failed.

On Franklin’s final attempt, the bank teller looked at the computer screen that showed the signature they had on file for Franklin.

The teller then looked at the scribbled mess Franklin was attempting to pass off as his own signature.

With such an obvious red flag, there was no way the teller could authorise the cheque.

Franklin and Watsford left the bank without the cheque.

Worse, they now had to break the news of their failure to Fadi.

He needed the money to pay down his mortgage and it was now trapped in Franklin’s account.

The trust in Franklin and Watsford from members of the Ibrahim family was also at a low point. They had only recently been caught stealing money from Michael.

On May 21, 2017, Michael discovered Watsford and Franklin had skimmed $65,000 off the money that was to be used to purchase the 900,000 packets of cigarettes, according to the agreed facts from Watsford’s case.

Franklin and Watsford were bashed and Michael shaved their heads as punishment.

After Franklin failed to get the bank cheque issued at Martin Place, the trio drove towards Rose Bay CBA for a second attempt.

At 12.36pm, Franklin entered Rose Bay CBA to try again.

According to the agreed facts from Watsford’s case, Franklin was finally able to keep himself together this time and the bank teller issued him the bank cheque.

Franklin then attempted to deposit the money into Fadi’s account, the facts said.

Franklin called Fadi from the bank to ask him for the relevant details to assist with the transaction, the facts said.

Fadi went one better and came into the bank to assist with the transaction, the facts said.

Finally it was a success.

The three men exited the bank -- Fadi and Watsford walking several steps in front of Franklin — and left in a car driven by Watsford.

HOW FADI GOT DRAGGED INTO THIS MESS

Michael’s golden goose turned out to be an undercover cop whose efforts saw the younger Ibrahim brother jailed for a maximum 25 years.

The undercover made friends with Watsford in mid 2016.

The undercover claimed to have a “door” that could smuggle anything past border authorities.

Watsford saw the potential and introduced the undercover to Michael.

Michael enlisted a who’s who of Sydney criminals along with Middle East and European based drug lords.

In less than a year, Michael had the undercover smuggle almost two tonnes of drugs and millions of cigarettes into Australia.

Michael sealed Fadi’s fate on April 6, 2017, according to tendered court documents.

During a meeting with the undercover at the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney’s CBD, Michael told the undercover that Fadi was assisting with financing the purchase of the 900,000 packets of cigarettes by mortgaging his house to the tune of $1 million.

In September 2022, Fadi pleaded guilty to dealing with money reasonably suspected of being the proceeds of crime.

The Crown accepted the plea on the basis that Fadi did not know Michael was going to use his money for criminal activity.

The undercover purchased the 900,000 packets of Manchester cigarettes in Dubai on May 11, 2017 and packed them in a shipping container.

They arrived in Australia on July 4. 2017, on board the ship, Josephine Maersk, and were delivered to a storage factory on Ferris St Parramatta between July 6 and 7.

Michael sold them soon after for $6.75 million, court documents said.

Fadi, Michael and other members of their extended clan were arrested in Dubai in August 2017 after they headed to the Middle East for a luxury holiday.

Originally sentenced to a maximum 30 years, Michael’s sentence was reduced to a maximum 25 years in August 2022.

Fadi is listed to be sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court on April 26.

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