Meet Mr Big: The mastermind police claim is behind fake ‘terror caravan’

A Sydney businessman who fled Australia by boat while on bail for an alleged 600kg drug importation can be revealed as the man hoping to benefit from the “terror caravan” plot.

A Sydney businessman who fled Australia by boat while on bail over an alleged 600kg drug importation can be ­revealed as the man police believe is behind the contrived “terror caravan” plot.

Sayet Erhan Akca, 35, a former gym and childcare centre owner, was allegedly hoping to leverage a lenient court outcome by providing information about the fabricated plan to police.

The married father-of-one has been overseas – darting between Asia and Turkey – since police say he hid in a boat to flee the country in mid 2023.

Police sources told The Daily Telegraph that Akca, who left behind wife Georgia and a toddler son in Sydney’s south, was possibly using the hoax caravan plot and related anti-Semitic attacks as a bargaining tool to get back home to his wife – who is not accused of any wrongdoing – and son.

It is not unusual for crooks to offer up information about planned crimes or the location of drugs and weapons as leverage for a reduced prison term or to have charges dropped, a police source said.

Sydney businessman Sayet Erhan Akca, 35, with wife Georgia, who is not accused of any wrongdoing. Picture: Facebook

Akca first came to the attention of authorities in 2021 when he was arrested in the Australian Federal Police’s Operation Ironside sting and charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of drugs using the messaging app AN0M.

If found guilty, Akca could be facing life in jail.

But he fled while on bail and a warrant for his arrest was ­issued in September 2023.

Police now allege Akca is the mastermind behind the explosives-laden caravan planted on a roadside at Dural, and a string of anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney since October.

AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett this week said police allege the criminal acts were masterminded by one person.

“We believe the person pulling the strings wanted changes to their criminal status but maintained a distance from their scheme and hired local criminals to carry out parts of their plan. However, the plan was foiled,” Ms Barrett said.

Akca, with wife Georgia who is not accused of any wrongdoing. Picture: Facebook

She said investigators were confident “very early on” after the caravan was found on January 19 that it was a hoax, but she said the threat had to be treated at its highest.

“The caravan was never going to cause a mass-casualty event, but instead was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit,” she said.

“Put simply, the plan was the following: Organise someone to buy a caravan, place it with explosives and written material of anti-Semitic nature, leave it in a specific location and then once that happens, inform law enforcement about an impending terror attack against Jewish Australians.”

Police allege Akca, pictured with wife Georgia, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, has been travelling between Asia and Turkey since leaving Australia in 2023.

A source said there was still work being done to bring the overseas alleged mastermind back to Australia.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson said police believe all the anti-Semitic attacks in the city since December “link back to the same common source”.

These include the firebombing of a childcare centre at Maroubra and graffiti attacks on homes and cars in the eastern suburbs.

On Tuesday, 14 people were arrested and charged with dozens of offences in connection with the anti-Semitic incidents.