John Voitin: lawyer denies dishonesty charge linked to top Comanchero bikie client

Former lawyer John Voitin says he never broke the law in his dealings with a top Comanchero bikie, a brothel owner and a businessman.

Colourful former lawyer John Voitin has denied breaking the law when his firm used a millionaire suburban businessman’s trust money to pay the legal bills of a feared senior Comanchero bikie gang leader.

Mr Voitin, self represented, faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday, to fight a charge that he falsified entries made on the trust account at his former firm, Stanton Grant.

Prosecutor Matthew Cookson said Mr Voitin stands accused of causing false entries to be made in the firm’s legal trust ledger, when money from one client — spa manufacturer Graham Ritchie — was used to pay the bikie kingpin’s legal bills.

Mr Ritchie was a longtime client of the firm.

The Herald Sun has chosen not to Mr Voitin’s former bikie client, who is currently behind bars awaiting trial.

Mr Voitin told the court of Mr Ritchie, who had recently sold his business for nearly $20m, “I have no doubt that he was stooged by (the bikie)”.

John Voitin was shot in a suspected drive-by shooting outside his home in Kew after his relationship with former underworld clients soured. Picture: Alex Coppel.

The alleged false entry in the trust file was for a “debt owing to Michael Jones related to Spa Industries”.

Spa Industries was Mr Ritchie’s company, and Mr Jones was a prominent owner of a string of brothels and entertainment venues, including the Spearmint Rhino.

Mr Jones was also an associate of the bikie kingpin.

Mr Jones, in a text message, described Mr Ritchie as the “best collection lawyer in the world”, after a large transfer was completed, the court heard.

Mr Voitin’s defence to the false accounting charge is that he did not act dishonestly, that he did not create the document at the centre of the prosecution case, and that the document that was created reflected written instructions from clients.

Comanchero Bikies gather an annual bikie run. Picture: NewsWire

Mr Voitin said his role at the firm was that of a “rainmaker”, bringing in business, and that he had no close involvement in day-to-day matters like billing.

Mr Voitin has also pleaded not guilty to breaching bail by failing to live at an agreed address in Balwyn.

Embattled bikie lawyer John Voitin was shot outside his mansion home in Kew. Pic: Supplied

Mr Voitin told the court there was “a reasonable reason for the failure to reside at that (bail) address”.

Mr Voitin’s relationship with some of his underworld clients had by that stage soured.

He was later shot in the legs in the driveway of another of his homes, in Kew.

His properties have also been the target of arson and vandalism attacks.

Mr Voitin has previously claimed the dishonesty charges relies in a misreading of the “vibe” of text messages between him and his former clients.

The case against the Mr Voitin has a tortured history, having been the subject of a lengthy committal hearing, where some charges were struck out.

It was then transferred to the County Court, only for the dishonesty charge to be sent back to the Magistrates’ Court.

The dishonesty charge represents a sliver of the previously-major case against him, which was the result of laid following a major Victoria Police operation — Operation Paper — which was formed to investigate allegations of bikie gang-linked drug trafficking, money laundering and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

He is listed to face the County Court later this month on a separate raft of charges.

The hearing continues.