The Snitch: Fadi Ibrahim’s freeze attempt on dentist’s assets fails

Why did Fadi Ibrahim want to freeze the assets of his cosmetic dentist? When will Scott Miller get out of jail? And where was the clever hiding spot for a Western Sydney crime gang’s gun? The Snitch is here.

Sydney identity Fadi Ibrahim is down a few more quid in his multimillion-dollar court battle with his dentist.

The younger brother of Kings Cross boss John Ibrahim is suing William “Bill” Zafiropoulos in a case before the NSW Supreme Court where Ibrahim claims he asked the cosmetic dentist to hold $11m of his money only for the doctor to allegedly invest it in other properties.

Fadi launched an emergency notice of motion in the case on Friday and asked the court to freeze Dr Zafiropoulos assets after the dentist sold a property for what Ibrahim’s lawyers argued was “under market value” and gave the proceeds to his wife.

But it ended in disaster when Justice Mark Richmond refused the application and ordered Ibrahim to pick up the bill for Dr Zafiropoulos’ lawyers for the application.

Ibrahim’s statement of claim said he made the $11m from a series of property deals and gave Dr Zafiropoulos the money to hold in 2018 at a time where he could not open a bank account. He claims the dentist has failed to repay him $4m of the money.

Fadi Ibrahim launched an emergency notice of motion to freeze Dr William ‘Bill’ Zafiropoulos’s assets.

In his defence, Dr Zafiropoulos does not deny receiving the money but claims he has repaid all of his immediate debts to Ibrahim and will pay the rest by an agreed date.

On Friday, Fadi’s barrister Wilson Chan told the court his client launched the freezing application after Dr Zafiropoulos appeared to be deliberately dispersing assets by selling a Bardwell Park property, that Ibrahim had placed a caveat over, for less than market value.

When the caveats were lifted on May 9, the dentist sold the property and gave the proceeds to his wife, who also had a caveat on the property, Mr Chan told the court.

Dentist Dr William Zafiropoulos (left). Picture: Facebook

The court heard Dr Zafiropoulos denied deliberately selling the property on the cheap and blamed Sydney’s volatile property market for delivering a price that was “less than what I was expecting”.

The dentist’s barrister Michael Bennett told the court Ibrahim had done nothing about the property despite knowing the plans for it, stretching back to December, meaning the circumstances did “not justify such a drastic use of the court’s power”.

The court also heard that Dr Zafiropoulos had received a $300,000 insurance payout “following his injuries”.

It was not revealed if the insurance payout came after the dentist was attacked with a hammer by unidentified people while tending to a patient in his Classic Smiles Dental in Miranda in 2023.

It is not suggested that Ibrahim had any involvement in, or knowledge of, the attack.

Scott Miller’s future

Disgraced Olympic swimmer Scott Miller is unlikely to find out if he will get out of jail until at least June.

The 1996 silver medallist last week found out that he would not have any extra time added to his prison sentence for supplying drugs after he pleaded guilty to yet another drug supplying conviction.

That put his earliest eligible parole date as this week, The Sydney District Court was told last Friday.

Scott Miller. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Lewins

Miller during his swimming career.

But we’re told that red tape and parole procedures mean that his latest bid for release would not occur until at least June.

Miller was refused parole in January after the minimum sentence clocked over on his conviction for smuggling ice that was secreted inside candles and hidden in a secret compartment of a Toyota Camry in 2021.

The main reason for the refusal was because he still had related charges — Miller and others packaging ice into instant noodle containers inside a Haberfield property before onselling them – outstanding.

We’re told Miller will now have to make another application for parole.

Light bulb moment

Criminals are occasionally clever and this week a court heard an example of that when it came to a device that concealed a gun.

The details emerged in a bail application relating to an underworld figure.

The court heard that inside the bathroom of a Granville property an innocent looking light switch was attached to the wall.

But the light switch was not actually connected to any lights or electricity.

The entire plastic panel could be removed, which revealed another switch in an alcove that was hidden by the fake light switch.

Once that switch was pressed it caused another panel on the bathroom wall to open. Behind that panel was a gun. If only they would turn their minds to something productive.

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