Thomas Goertz granted bail in Darwin Local Court after allegedly helping hoax caravan terror plot mastermind Sayet Erhan Akca escape Australia
A self-described ‘hedonist’ German sailor allegedly helped the ‘caravan terror plot’ mastermind flee Australia. See why authorities believe his yacht has been chartered by other high-ranking criminals seeking to escape the law.
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A self-described ‘hedonist’ German sailor allegedly helped the ‘caravan terror plot’ mastermind flee Australia, with his yacht allegedly part of a syndicate to smuggle high-ranking criminals out of the country.
Thomas Goertz appeared before Darwin Local Court on Monday over allegations he helped Sayet Erhan Akca escape Australia by sailing his yacht from Queensland’s Thursday Island to Thailand in September 2023.
The Australian Federal Police have alleged Mr Goertz smuggled Mr Akca from Thursday Island to Phuket in Thailand in September, 2023, while the 35-year-old NSW man was facing charges of possessing a commercial quantity of drugs and dealing with more than $100,000 in the proceeds of crime.
It was alleged Mr Goertz hired Queenslander Sean Eamon Ryan as his deck hand before the pair crewed a vessel that collected Akca in an at-sea transfer, before their 42 day sailing adventure to Phuket.
Police have also said Mr Akca, who remains on the run overseas, was a top suspect for the “fabricated terrorism plot”, involving an explosive-packed caravan found in Dural, NSW in January.
The AFP Deputy Commissioner National Security Krissy Barrett confirmed earlier this month while explosives and anti-semitic material were discovered in the caravan, the lack of any detonator and the nature of the tip-offs led investigators to conclude it was “a criminal con job” to cause fear for “personal benefit”.
“We are now confident that all these tip-offs were fabricated, and the caravan plot was an elaborate scheme contrived by organised criminals, domestically and from offshore,” Ms Barrett said.
More than 16 months after this alleged trip, Mr Goertz’s lawyer Peter Maley said the “historical” charge would have to be withdrawn from the Territory courts, as “it’s a matter that is effectively in Queensland”.
Mr Maley said the fresh allegation was a result of investigators extracting information from his telephone records.
His arrest on Friday comes a month after Mr Goertz was granted bail by the Darwin Local Court after allegedly trying to smuggle fugitive drug trafficker Hussein Chamas out of the country via a yacht trip over the Arafura Sea.
The Sydney fugitive vanished from his NSW rehabilitation facility, only to reappear 4200km away on a remote Territory beach on January 26.
Mr Chamas, Mr Goertz and his partner Jade Siu Ying Ormiston were arrested on board the yacht the next day.
After 22 days in an ovrcrowded police watchhouse, the German man was granted bail to a Darwin Hotel in February, under strict bail conditions, including daily check-ins with police, surrendering his passport, a nightly curfew, non-contact orders and electronic monitoring.
Mr Ryan faced Bundaberg Magistrates Court charged with one count of people smuggling for Mr Akca, while Ms Ormiston was also charged with the same offence in Darwin for her role in the attempted escape of Mr Chamas.
On Monday, Darwin Local Court judge Tanya Fong Lim approved his bail again on the same conditions, adjourning his hearing to May 27 for a preliminary examination mention.
After another three days in the watch house, Mr Goertz flashed a ‘peace’ sign for the cameras waiting outside of court, telling the media he had “no comment” before cheekily asking for a cigarette.
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Originally published as Thomas Goertz granted bail in Darwin Local Court after allegedly helping hoax caravan terror plot mastermind Sayet Erhan Akca escape Australia
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