The Snitch: Amin Naaman officially declared a missing person
Self-styled app entrepreneur Amin Naaman disappeared from Sydney with investors chasing him for tens of millions of dollars. But NSW Police have now officially added him to the missing persons list with fears he has been killed or somehow skipped the country.
Police & Courts
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He’s in hiding from the underworld and now Amin Naaman has been officially declared a missing person.
Naaman hasn’t been seen since he vanished from Sydney while investors were chasing him for tens of millions of dollars.
The self-styled app entrepreneur’s business folded and almost sparked all-out war between underworld heavyweights as they turned on each other in a bid to reclaim their investment. The tax office is also pursuing the Greenacre man for at least $7 million.
His firm’s downfall was linked to two shootings in southwest Sydney and drew the involvement of Strike Force Raptor.
He has never been charged but NSW Police have now added him to the missing persons list with fears he has been killed or skipped the country on a false passport.
The Snitch understands police tracked Naaman’s last public sighting to a pharmacy in the beachside suburb of Glenelg in SA last November.
His wife, Marta, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, is understood to be living interstate. Neither she nor Naaman’s other relatives have reported him missing.
One source said Naaman’s mum was hospitalised in Sydney recently and many people expected the 35-year-old to rush to her bedside.
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Police said Naaman hadn’t been in contact with his family or accessed his bank accounts since last November. He also hasn’t answered his mobile phones or used his passport.
Anyone with information about Naaman’s whereabouts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
SOBER SAM
There was one person who was more surprised than most after hearing Sam Burgess was charged with intimidating his ex-father in law in October last year.
It was the Bowral local who had a chat with the embattled Rabbitohs player over a couple of mid-strength beers at The Royal Hotel just before it is alleged to have happened.
The pair had never met but “John” randomly bumped into Burgess in the pub’s TAB room.
“I always go in every Saturday as part of our punter’s club to put bets on and have a few beers,” he said.
“I didn’t recognise who it was at first and I said something about the horse I was going to back and we started talking. He said ‘I’ve come to see my children’ and I didn’t realise they’d even split up.
“We got on to the fact that I’ve had two marriage breakups, so I gave him some advice like ‘it’s tough but you’ve just got to get through it and the grass is always greener’.”
John, who asked not to be named, said he was shocked to read about the allegations later levelled at Burgess.
“He didn’t seem to be in a bad frame of mind. He was just having a bit of a punt and few people came up and wanted some photos and he was very polite and respectful and I think he enjoyed being in that environment,” he said.
“He definitely hadn’t been drinking before he got there, he was sober as a judge.”
GUILTY SALIM
Disgraced property developer Salim Mehajer’s trail of deceit stretched even further last week.
The former Auburn deputy mayor was found guilty of perverting the course of justice following a case that flew under the radar.
Mehajer doctored documents to bolster his chances at bail in separate applications in 2017 and 2018. At the time he was charged with domestic violence offences against his ex-wife. They were later dropped.
Mehajer claimed he needed to be released on bail because he’d been awarded a building management contract and had to work.
A nightly curfew wouldn’t cut it either, he argued, because he needed to be on the concierge desk. But Judge Peter Zahra wasn’t having it.
He found Mehajer guilty of swearing false affidavits to deceive the court.
GOT A SNITCH? Contact ava.benny-morrison@news.com.au or brenden.hills@news.com.au