Tarek Zahed finishes sentences for his role in the killing of Youssef Assoum

Former Comanchero boss Tarek Zahed — who survived being shot 10 times at an Auburn gym — was released from a NSW prison early this morning.

One of the country’s most infamous bikies, former Comanchero sergeant-at-arms Tarek Zahed, was released from a NSW prison at 6am on Friday.

The 43-year-old survived being shot 10 times when he and his younger brother Omar were ambushed with a hail of bullets in a gym at Auburn in 2022.

Omar, also a Comanchero, died from his wounds while Zahed miraculously lived, losing an eye in the attack and sustaining other lifelong injuries.

A prison mugshot taken after the shooting showed Tarek with bandages over his nose and one of his eyes, while scratches appeared all over his face.

Known as the “Balenciaga Bikie’’’ because of his love of the high-end brand, Zahed was jailed earlier this year after he pleaded to hindering the discovery of evidence for his role in the death of Youssef Assoum in 2014.

Tarek Zahed is nicknamed the Balenciaga Bikie because of his love of the luxury brand. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

The court heard he had been motivated to commit the crime in a bid to protect his younger brother Abdul, who repeatedly lied to police, hospital staff and his parole officer about his knowledge of the fatal shooting.

Tarek, was arrested by police at Edgecliff in Sydney’s eastern suburbs when Raptor police shot out the windows of his car with bean bag rounds in August 2022.

Zahed’s mugshot, taken while he was recovering from injuries sustained in a shooting at an Auburn gym that killed his brother Omar.

He was in Sydney for a lavish wedding, but sources said he was also planning to meet up with some fellow underworld associates who he was not banned from talking to under his serious crime prevention order.

While Zahed had to tell NSW Police about his plans, what they did not tell him in return was that while in Sydney they intended to arrest and charge him over the gangland killing of Assoum.

Tarek and Abdul were initially charged over Assoum’s murder. However, prosecutors sensationally dropped the murder charge against both men on the morning of their Supreme Court trial and the brothers pleaded guilty to the lesser charges against them after last-minute plea deals were struck with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions

He was sentenced to a maximum of three years and six months — his non-parole period ending on December 27 with his sentence backdated to the time of his arrest.

During a hearing in an attempt to reduce his sentence the court heard Tarek had been kept in solitary confinement since at Goulburn his arrest, with little “intellectual stimulation”, and the only thing he had to occupy his time was a CD player.

It was also revealed he had only had limited vision in his remaining eye due to cataracts, and could not read or watch television.

Tarek has indicated that he will move to Melbourne when he is freed.

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