The Snitch: How a cup of coffee put an innocent lawyer in hot water

Falsified affidavit allegations in the Brayden Dillon murder case claimed two more scalps this week — and put an innocent lawyer in the crosshairs of the investigation.

Surveillance footage of lawyer Chris Eliopoulos and Torek Ayoub. There is no suggestion Mr Eliopoulos was involved in any criminal activity.

Falsified affidavit allegations that stretched from Goulburn jail to Sydney’s legal fraternity claimed two more scalps this week.

The Harbour City’s legal circles were abuzz with rumour and innuendo in 2018, when a homicide strike force began raiding chambers and testing the sanctity of legal professional privilege in court.

Brayden Dillon, who was just 15 when he was slain in his bed. Picture: Supplied

The investigation centred on the murder of 15-year-old Brayden Dillon and a cover-up allegedly aided by lawyers and an unrelenting Supermax inmate.

Two criminal solicitors were charged, with others either questioned or innocently caught up in alleged cover-up debacle.

Since Torek Ayoub, an associate of the murderer’s family, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice last week, we can show you the surveillance images that put one innocent lawyer in the crosshairs.

According to a statement of facts, Ayoub helped to arrange the affidavit that would absolve Abdul Abu-Mahmoud from involvement in Dillon’s murder.

Surveillance footage shows lawyer Chris Eliopoulos with Torek Ayoub. Picture: Supplied

Abu-Mahmoud was last year found guilty of ordering Dillon’s murder in an act of revenge.

In April 2018, a year after the murder, Ayoub met with lawyer Chris Eliopoulos in Bondi, according to the statement of facts.

Mr Eliopoulos had visited shooter Conrad Craig in Cessnock jail, when Craig signed the affidavit.

Unbeknown to him, a police surveillance team was documenting Mr Eliopoulos’s meeting with Ayoub as the pair flicked through documents and drank coffee.

The pair had a cuppa and flicked through documents. Picture: Supplied

Mr Eliopoulos was not charged and there is no suggestion he was involved in the criminal activity.

In fact, he told police he thought the affidavits he obtained from Craig, who is serving 40 years in jail for Dillon’s murder, were accurate and true and had no idea Craig had been paid off to sign them.

Ayoub and Craig will be sentenced in July.

UNBEARABLE ROLE

Criminal lawyer Peter Katsoolis has represented some of the country’s most feared criminals, but now he has his sights on arguably a more challenging gig.

Katsoolis is set to submit his CV to take the recently vacated chief executive officer position of the North Sydney Bears Rugby League Club.

Criminal lawyer Peter Katsoolis is a big North Sydney Bears fan.

The solicitor, whose client list includes notorious cop-turned-murderer Roger Rogerson, claims a tortured history as a Bears fan is behind his tilt for the job.

“When I was studying law I lived just near Bear Park (North Sydney Oval) on Miller St,” Katsoolis said. “I used to get extensions on university assignments for football depression.

“I’m still scarred after 1994,” Katsoolis added, in reference to when the highly fancied Bears lost to the Canberra Raiders in the grand final qualifier. That the Raiders went on to win was hardly a comfort.

So what qualifies him for the job as Boss Bear?

“I have run a law firm for over 20 years and, given the people I have represented, this will be a walk in the park — I am not going to get pushed around and I won’t pull any punches,” Katsoolis said. “The Bears were always about fair play and that’s in my blood.”

The area around North Sydney Oval has another personal connection for Katsoolis.

He attended Rogerson’s wedding to Anne Melocco at St Mary’s church across the road from the ground in 2004.

The reception was at the Rag and Famish Hotel down the street, where Katsoolis had the pleasure of sitting next to Graham, Henry, the feared underworld enforcer and former bodyguard to Neddy Smith.

AND ABOUT TIME

It’s as exciting as it is sobering that in this day and age we can still use the phrase “first time ever” when referring to a female appointment.

But here we are.

Assistant Commissioner Leanne McCusker has taken over as the NSW Police Force’s domestic and family violence spokesman — the first female in that role.

Leanne McCusker (right) with Inspector Gretchin Atkins. Picture; Sam Ruttyn

Ms McCusker, who cut her teeth as a detective in the eastern suburbs in the 1990s before ascending to crime manager status at Redfern, is already making a mark with advocacy groups. “She was quite impressive,” one chief executive remarked.

The corporate spokesman roles were created under former Commissioner Andrew Scipione’s leadership, and the domestic and family violence portfolio is one of the most high profile.

It was Mick Fuller’s baby before he was appointed to the top job in 2017.

Ms McCusker, one of a handful of women in the force’s upper echelons, takes over from Assistant Commissioner Mark Jones.

SEX AND DEATH

A notorious crime figure is rumoured to have taken a hit out on a rival crim for shacking up with his wife.

News of the dangerous liaison filtered through police intelligence this month and has cops on high alert for a violent uprising.

A well-placed source told The Snitch that the crime figure, currently in the big house for his role in a shootout, got wind that his wife had moved on with another man.

To add insult to injury, that man was a member of a powerful Western Sydney crime family that has been a long-time rival.

We’ve decided not to name the players to avoid reigniting the tit-for-tat war that played out between the two clans several years ago.

“The (inmate) has put a hit out on him but you’d have to be pretty bold to take up the contract,” the source quipped.

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