‘He won’t be able to hold scissors in his hands’: Shadi Farah jailed for Toorak barber kidnap plot
A plot to violently kidnap a barber over a Toorak Village feud was uncovered by Australian Federal Police during a probe into a Melbourne drug lord, with the victim now speaking out about his frightening ordeal. Here’s how it all went down.
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A bizarre kidnap plot sprung from a feud between two Toorak Village traders has been only uncovered because of a police investigation into a Melbourne drug kingpin.
Australian Federal Police stumbled upon the frightening plot, perpetrated by Villagewalk cafe owner Shadi Farah, while monitoring top-dog meth trafficker Feres Al Janabe, the County Court has heard.
Al Janabe and Farah were sentenced in the County Court on August 16 after both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an offence.
The intended victim of the kidnap plot, Prestige Barbershop owner Nader Kajajo, said he only felt safe again after the plotters pleaded guilty.
Speaking to Leader, Mr Kajajo said he didn’t know why he was targeted but was now ready to move on with his life.
“I’m not sure if it was jealousy or if he was on something, he was acting crazy,” Mr Kajajo said.
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“Life is much better now. I’m smiling for the first time in 13 months. Listen to my voice, this is the first time I’ve felt safe in a long time.
Mr Kajajo said the situation became so intense he “had to move house to keep myself safe and my girlfriend and her children safe”.
“My business suffered because the clients they didn’t come, they didn’t feel safe,” he said.
The court heard Farah, who previously owned The Fruitful Shop, had it in for rival trader Mr Kajajo.
Farah hired Al Janabe in April, 2018 to kidnap and assault Mr Kajajo.
Al Janabe was recorded telling Farah that Mr Kajajo “won’t be able to hold scissors in his hand any more” when he was finished with him.
Police warned Farah they were onto the plot but the former fruiterer continued.
Al Janabe hired “associates” to carry out the kidnapping which was to take place at Mr Kajajo’s barbershop.
Farah paid Al Janabe a deposit but the kidnapping was foiled when police swooped and arrested both men in July last year.
Al Janabe also pleaded guilty to trafficking a large commercial quantity of meth.
He was busted by the AFP moving 9kg of meth from Victoria to Western Australia between March 1, 2018 and July 27, 2018.
Police crushed his drug empire through phone analysis and surveillance.
Al Janabe, who listed his occupation as unemployed, used various aliases and encrypted messages to run his “large scale commercial operation”.
Judge Michael McInerney said Al Janabe — represented by high-profile gangland barrister Zarah Garde-Wilson — was “clearly an organiser”.
He also accepted the prosecution assertions Al Janabe was the “instigator” who had his “finger on the pulse” and was also “pushing for results”.
“(Al Janabe) was top of the scale,” Judge McInerney said.
“(To say this was a) one occasion offence means nothing.
“It’s like saying he’s only committed murder once.”
“(He was) involved intimately in it for financial reward.”
Al Janabe’s priors include assault with a weapon and recklessly causing serious injury.
He has also been caught by police with a loaded pistol.
Judge McInerney said Al Janabe led a lifestyle “totally consistent” with that of a drug dealer.
“(Al Janabe) seems content not to work,” he said.
“I feel he has been busy in other areas.”
Judge McInerney also questioned why Al Janabe used the 2003 US invasion of Iraq as an excuse as he had left that country in 2001.
Al Janabe, 43, was sentenced to a maximum of 11 years and ten months in prison with a non-parole period of eight years.
He received a “substantial discount” after he agreed to be the star witness in an upcoming attempted murder trial.
He had spent 348 days in custody at the time of sentencing.
Farah, 36, was jailed for nine months and given a three-year community corrections order.
He had spent 71 days in custody at the time of sentencing.
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