Michael and Shayda Ibrahim clash over money and scratched car

Tensions between Michael and Shayda Ibrahim climaxed in Dubai when Shayda blocked his number on WhatsApp. But the unease between the couple goes back years - with money and a scratched Range Rover the cause of tensions. LISTEN TO THE CALLS

• ‘Lose my number you gronk’
• Fadi’s prescription pill struggles
• John Ibrahim: ‘I owe the tax man millions’

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.

The Dubai blow up between Michael and Shayda Ibrahim wasn’t the first time there had been tension between the in-laws.

They had been building from the second Michael got out of jail and money was at the centre of it, according to a call recorded by police on July 19, 2017 and tendered to the court.

Michael had served a sentence for the manslaughter of Robin Nassour and was bail refused until he was found not guilty of conspiring to murder Ibrahim family rival John Macris.

The legal fees had wiped Michael out financially.

Fadi borrowed money off his mortgage to help Michael get on his feet financially.

Shayda Ibrahim and husband are captured on phone calls tendered to court arguing over Fadi’s brother Michael.

But the call revealed the loan had put Fadi and Shayda under financial pressure and she wasn’t happy about it.

“I just want to ask you a question right?” Shayda said to Fadi in one of the calls tendered to court.

“Why doesn’t he go get a loan? Is it hard for him to get a loan or something?”

Fadi said he didn’t want to talk about it on the phone but said he needed to help Michael financially.

LISTEN TO MICHAEL AND FADI IBRAHIM TALK ABOUT FADI’S WIFE

READ THE TRANSCRIPT: WARNING GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

“He’s just getting on his feet you know what I mean…,” Fadi said.

But Shayda needed more convincing.

“If you’ve been in jail for 10 years, can you get a loan?” Shayda asked.

“No you can’t!” Fadi yelled back.

“You have to have at least two years of taxes and you have to have an income — you can’t even get a credit card.”

Michael Ibrahim was jailed for his role in the manslaughter of Robin Nassour.

Michael Ibrahim had asked brother Fadi for money, leading to tensions with his sister-in-law Shayda.

Shayda said it wasn’t fair that Michael couldn’t get a loan. Fadi corrected her to say the banks were in the right because Michael wasn’t a good loan prospect on paper.

“Whatever,” Shayda said. “I’m just sick of it. Tell him to go and ask John.”

Fadi also cut that option off, explaining that “he’s got a big tax bill this year”.

Michael and Shayda had faced off over a second issue around the time of the call.

Michael accused Shayda of scratching a car owned by the Ibrahim family that both had been driving.

Fadi and Shayda Ibrahim’s Range Rover parked in their Dover Heights driveway.

Shayda denied it, explaining she didn’t feel any impact of a crash or bump while she was driving.

But Fadi explained that once Michael had made up his mind, that was it.

“I didn’t hit it, it wasn’t me. Like far out. Anyway, whatever,” Shayda said.

Fadi reminded Shayda that she had caused some damage to their Range Rover.

“No offence but you hit — you f**ked up the Range Rover wheels,” Fadi said.

HOT WHEELS

They are the cars that match the reputations of their owners.

When police began the more than year-long investigation into the Ibrahims and their cohorts, one of the first tasks was running searches on their cars to see who owned them.

They included a fleet of first class sports cars.

The first was Fadi Ibrahim’s black 2015 Range Rover Sport station wagon, which carsguide.com says sells second-hand for about $130,000.

According to the RMS records, Fadi bought the luxury 4WD from a company known as Mortgage Loan and General No 2 in March 2016.

Ryan Watsford’s 2016 black Maserati had a more complicated ownership history changing hands four times before Watsford owned it. Source: Facebook

ASIC records show Fadi Ibrahim’s company D.I Developments was a previous shareholder of Mortgage Loan and General before it was liquidated before being deregistered in 2017.

Police also pulled the records of Fadi’s other car, a white 2011 Range Rover Sport that was offloaded during the investigation.

A white 2015 Aston Martin coupe, matching the description of the one police searched at the home of Fadi’s business partner, Ben Scott, was also registered under Fadi’s business, Neerim Property Holdings.

Ryan Watsford’s 2016 black Maserati had a more complicated ownership history changing hands four times before Watsford owned it, and going through two more after he owned it.

According to online car sales sites, the Maserati sells second-hand for about $100,000.

Originally published as Michael and Shayda Ibrahim clash over money and scratched car