Joe Elias alleged kidnap plot: Ali Abdulrahman seeks bail for mental health
A Sydney concreting business owner accused of the violent kidnapping of Pierre Kassouf and attempted abduction of party boat king Joe Elias (pictured) has made a bid for bail on mental health grounds.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The alleged mastermind behind the botched kidnapping of Sydney businessman Joe Elias needs to be freed on bail because “his mental health has suffered significantly,” a court heard.
Ali Abdulrahman is accused of directing two of his employees to crash into the car of former NRL star Ben Elias’ brother and hold him for ransom in March.
Joe Elias, who owns a number of Sydney Harbour party boats, hit headlines last year when a passenger was fatally overcome by fumes that leaked into a toilet — an incident the property developer insists was not his fault.
Abdulrahman, who wore a mask while appearing via video link from Silverwater prison, applied for $600,000 bail in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday.
The 40-year-old’s lawyer said he needed better treatment for post traumatic stress disorder, which he developed after growing up in war-torn Lebanon and suffering historical child sex abuse.
Elias Tabchouri said his client’s major depressive illness has deteriorated while behind bars, and Abdulrahman is not likely to face trial until at least mid 2021.
“His mental health has suffered significantly,” he said.
Abdulrahman offered to report to police daily, wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and move back home with his parents in Emerton.
“That’s come about due to financial circumstances as well,” Mr Tabchouri said.
Abdulrahman, who owns a St Marys concrete business, allegedly also oversaw a violent $4 million ransom plot last November when Pierre Kassouf was grabbed from his panel beating workshop and taken to a Shanes Park property, where he was later found clinging to life.
The Luddenham man has also been charged after allegedly hiding a tracking device in a child’s teddy bear in a ploy to locate a woman he was stalking in Guildford West between December 24 and January 1.
Mr Tabchouri argued the Crown’s circumstantial case against Abdulrahman regarding both kidnapping plots was weak.
Police allege a Hilux ute rammed Mr Elias’ car in Drummoyne at 4.40pm on March 6.
Two men in their 20s allegedly jumped out and tried to bundle Mr Elias into the ute after he got out of his car. They said this was part of a plan to snatch the businessman.
However, Mr Elias escaped down a nearby side street.
CCTV also allegedly showed the would-be kidnappers abandoning their damaged ute and fleeing the scene on foot.
Abdulrahman and his alleged accomplice Kaio Pula were arrested on March 11, and both charged with attempted kidnapping.
Pula is alleged to have helped in both operations and a third co-accused, Fredericks Taufua, was denied bail in February in relation to the Kassouf incident.
The court heard Taufua and Pula allegedly abducted Mr Kassouf and drove him to a Shanes Park address in a Commodore in November.
Police say Kassouf was found bound and beaten in a shed on that property by real estate agents the next day and was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Justice Geoffrey Bellew has reserved his decision.