Police tapes tendered to court out Margaret Staltaro as gossip queen
She was John Ibrahim’s right-hand woman — his “work wife”, financial controller and long-time confidante. But Margaret Staltaro had another attribute — that of being the mistress of gossip. LISTEN TO WHAT MARGARET THINKS OF JOHN
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For three decades, Sydney has regarded the House of Ibrahim with fear and fascination.
Now, for the first time, we take you inside the private world of this complicated family thanks to an enormous cache of surveillance material tendered to a NSW court.
There are more than 880 phone calls and texts that were covertly recorded by police over more than a year, revealing the truth about feuds, grudges and family lore, including the secret tunnel under patriarch John Ibrahim’s Eastern Suburbs mansion.
There are hundreds of police photos taken inside Ibrahim homes during police raids, and an even larger collection of surveillance photos taken by police tailing family members and associates through the city’s streets.
The material sheds new light on the family’s networks, reaching beyond brothers John, Fadi, Michael and Sam to the far reaches of entertainment, night-life, property and crime.
On their private calls, the brothers and their associates detail their rivalries and power struggles, as well as moments of “us against the world” camaraderie and black humour.
Margaret Staltaro is John Ibrahim’s financial controller, “work wife” and long-time confidante, but she also plays another important role in the wider Ibrahim clan.
She is the mistress of gossip.
When certain members of the wider Ibrahim clan had a problem and needed a shoulder to cry on, Ms Staltaro would often be one of their first calls.
Equally, if they had a salacious secret or needed to do some old-fashioned back-stabbing or question the character of a new family member, Ms Staltaro would be there to fan the flames.
When police conducted their investigation, they recorded numerous phone calls where family members or associates phoned her to trouble shoot their problems.
What they heard was uncensored gossip, like Ms Staltaro bagging out her boss.
Ms Staltaro also complained about Fadi and Michael moving into the Eastern Suburbs near John.
LISTEN TO WHAT MARGARET STALTARO THINKS OF JOHN IBRAHIM
READ THE TRANSCRIPT: WARNING GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
“I’ll be honest, ever since they’ve moved here it’s been nothing but a headache for me,” Ms Staltaro told Ibrahim underling Jaron Chester.
“Ever since Fadi has moved in it’s been a f**king headache. One minute we’re best friends, the next we’re worst enemies,” she said.
“I’m even pissed off with Shayda. They’re all game players. I’m pissed off, I can’t stand it.”
When Chester and Ryan Watsford were about to have their eyebrows waxed as punishment, they put in calls to Ms Staltaro to pour their hearts out.
Ms Staltaro said she was disgusted with John and the others who pushed for it to happen.
“I can’t believe John f**king did that,” she said in an August call to Mr Chester.
“He’s a f**king ruthless f***ing idiot. F**king can’t stand him today. F**king f**king rude. So f**ng rude.”
In another call that day, she told Chester: “I can’t believe John did that … he had the shits this morning … but then again, I’ve been giving him attitude.”
However, Ms Staltaro wasn’t the only person in the inner circle who was prone to gossiping.
Other members used it as a survival technique, to read the mood and avoid trouble.
On one occasion, Watsford obviously failed, and was subjected to a lashing from John before he left his house to pick up girlfriend Sarah Budge and drive her to the airport.
“F**king hell, I just left his house, Jesus Christ,” Watsford said to Ms Budge in a call on May 27, 2017.
Ms Budge asked: “Is he foul?”
Watsford replied: “F**k f**k he’s in pain man.”
Fadi’s business partner Benjamin Scott, who is not accused of wrongdoing and has not been charged, was his main outlet for gossip, and vice versa, whether it was bagging out friends or Fadi complaining that his head looked big in the newspaper.
In one call, Mr Scott told Fadi of his opinion of certain group members, including Jaron Chester, saying: “They’re rats living off John.”
Watsford also liked to keep the boys entertained with stories of his debaucherous lifestyle, which frequently involved prostitutes.
On November 20, 2016, Watsford told Michael of his night out with two prostitutes at high end Sydney power restaurant Machiavelli.
In another call on April 22, 2017, Watsford told Michael that he was taking four prostitutes to John’s house. Watsford said he offered John an “orgy” but it appears the offer was not accepted.
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