Shane Charter: biochemist in legal fight over former friend Robin Taylor’s luxury car fleet
Colourful biochemist Shane Charter wants the keys to his former business partner’s Lamborghinis after they were seized by police.
Melbourne City
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Colourful biochemist Shane Charter is locked in a million-dollar legal battle with alleged Melbourne steroid kingpin Robin Taylor, claiming he is the rightful owner two Lamborghinis, a Porsche and a Bentley seized by police in raids last year.
Taylor, 56, of Yarrambat, was arrested in March last year following a series of raids on his home, a Somerton factory, and the Melbourne Sports Medicine and Anti-Ageing Science Clinic in Moonee Ponds.
Police seized more than $1m in cash and a fleet of 17 cars during the raid. The cars had an estimated value of more than $3m.
Taylor has indicated he intends to fight a raft of charges including trafficking prescription drugs and dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime. He is due to face a committal hearing in the Magistrates Court in May.
Meanwhile, authorities are seeking to have the cash, cars and other valuable property forfeited to the state under proceeds of crime laws.
But in a twist, Mr Charter, who was a key player in the Essendon supplements scandal and who was a well-known associate of slain gangster Sam Abdulrahim, has launched a legal bid claiming he has a secured interest in two Lamborghini Aventadors, a Porsche 911 GT3, and a Bentley Continental.
When seized, both Lamborghinis carried the license plate “MRBADD”, while the Porsche had the license plate “BB4LYF”, seemingly shorthand for “bad boy for life”.
The four cars Mr Charter claims he has a right to were the centrepieces of Taylor’s car collection, with a combined value of around $1.8m.
Mr Charter’s registered interest in the cars, if proven as legitimate, could result in police being ordered to hand the keys over to Mr Charter, or ordered to pay him a chunk of the auction proceeds if the cars are sold off.
The County Court on Tuesday heard the cars were the subject of a three-way legal tug of war, with Mr Charter, and two companies linked to the Taylor family – Taylor Motorsports Group and Corporate Health and Consulting – all claiming an interest in them.
The cars are currently in a Victoria Police lockup.
Mr Charter’s lawyer, Luke Faba, told the County Court this week Mr Charter would allege Mr Taylor was the beneficial owner of Corporate Health and Consulting, despite someone else being listed as company director.
Mr Faba suggested Mr Charter would aggressively pursue his claim to the cars, but is yet to file evidence in support of the claim.
Mr Charter and Taylor have long been at odds. Taylor is a former employee of Mr Charter, and the two fell out during the Essendon supplements scandal and a subsequent business deal that soured.
The cars Mr Charter claims a stake in represent a sliver of the lavish lifestyle Taylor allegedly led.
The courts have previously been told he regularly commuted between Yarrambat and Melbourne in a private helicopter. His Somerton factory featured a $250,000 Louis Vuitton dining setting. A Mercedes sports car listed in his name carried the registration plates “PEPKING” in a seeming reference to peptides treatments his clinic allegedly doled out.
Like Taylor, Mr Charter has previously been the subject of police attention for his involvement in the fringe peptide industry. A high-profile raid on his former Fitzroy clinic in 2022 led to police laying 78 charges, 76 of which were dropped.
Charter was approached for comment.
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