Crime kingpins accuse Michael Ibrahim of stealing drug money
When Michael Ibrahim drafted three of Sydney’s biggest players into the Sydney drug market into a plot to smuggle 800kg of MDMA into Australia, it almost dragged him into an underworld war when he was accused of trying to rob them of some of the drug money.
Police & Courts
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Michael Ibrahim was forced to attend a peace meeting with three Western Sydney crime kingpins to prevent an underworld war from erupting over a million-dollar drug smuggling operation.
The younger brother of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim fronted the meeting with bikie boss Hassan Fakhreddine, Mostafa Dib and Ahmad “Rock” Ahmad after they accused him of trying to rob them of some of the cash for the drug after the four men sealed the deal on an 800kg MDMA shipment.
They also accused Michael of planting a tracking device inside the bag containing the $1.12 million he handed over for his portion of the drugs.
Details of the meeting were revealed through court documents as Fakhreddine and Ahmad pleaded guilty in the Sydney District court to conspiring to import a commercial quantity of MDMA.
The deal took place on May 26, 2017, inside the eastern suburbs home of Michael’s nephew, and John Ibrahim’s son, Daniel Ibrahim.
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At one point, Michael had to run two doors up to John’s mansion to borrow $15,000 to cover a shortfall, court documents said.
John and Daniel were not charged and there is no evidence they knew the deal was taking place.
According to court documents, almost two weeks later, Michael attended a lunch at Woolloomooloo’s high-end Asian eatery, China Doll, where he complained to a new friend about having to attend the meeting to smooth relations.
Michael told his lunch date — who was actually an undercover cop — his accusers’ suggestions that he robbed the three men were ridiculous given the amount of money they stood to make from the drugs and that he would never be foolish enough to leave his family open to a revenge attack.
“We’re at my nephew’s, my brother lives two doors down and I’ve shown you where my family lives and you think I’m going to rob you,” Michael relayed to the undercover cop what he said at the meeting.
Michael, Dib, Fakhreddine and Ahmad have now all pleaded guilty to charges relating to the shipment.
The plan unravelled spectacularly months after Michael drafted Dib, Fakhreddine and Ahmad into the drug plot when it emerged the undercover cop had spent more than a year infiltrating his inner circle and recording their conversations, which ended with more than 20 arrests.
The plan had been for Michael to hand the trio $1.12 million cash in Sydney and their European-based drug suppliers would deliver 800kg of the drug to the man who was the undercover cop, in the Netherlands.
Fakhreddine is a high-ranking member of the Lone Wolf bikie gang, while Ahmad is the brother of murdered crime kingpin Wally Ahmad.
Dib, who is also known as Mustapha, is a high-level drug smuggler who was jailed for murdering the wife of a witness to the slaying of 14-year-old schoolboy Edward Lee before being acquitted on appeal. Dib was also jailed for the manslaughter of Lee.
After the May 26 2017 deal, the crime bosses accused Michael of planting a tracking device in the bag of cash and claimed he planned to rob them or their underlings who transported the bag to various locations later that night.
On May 28, Michael messaged the undercover cop on his BlackBerry, explaining that Fakhreddine, Dib and Ahmad were “blaming me for some rip (off),” court documents said.
Michael also explained that the trio accused him of having them followed after the cash was exchanged in an effort to “brake (sic) into there (sic) car and rip them (of) 5kg (of) rack”.
He also wrote they accused him of planting a tracker in the cash bag and stealing some of the money, despite Ahmad using an electronic money counter multiple times.