Nitro Gym: Comanchero bikie gang-linked gyms being run by women, as law enforcement crackdown looms
Gyms linked to the Comanchero bikie gang now all boast trusted women as company directors, as a potential crackdown looms.
South East
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The lucrative suburban Melbourne gyms linked to the Comanchero outlaw bikie gang are now all directed by female relatives of gang members and associates.
The unusual corporate arrangement comes as new laws are set to put pressure on the legitimate businesses linked to outlaw groups, and as many senior members of the gang languish in prison.
The Nitro Gym chain has long been the crown jewel in the gang’s legitimate business empire.
The original Nitro Gym at Hallam has been the target of a number of police raids, drive-by shootings, and a firebombing. There is also a Nitro gym in Mordialloc, which has attracted less scrutiny.
A gang associate, Peter Sampson, also runs two gyms that have, at times, shared the “Nitro” brand, in Preston and Ringwood, although his businesses are now known as the “Iron Kingdom” gyms.
Documents filed with corporate regulator ASIC reveal all of the corporate entities linked to the gyms are now directed by the female relatives of gang members or associates.
ASIC records show the company behind Nitro Gym in Hallam is now controlled by a 41-year-old beautician relative of gang boss Ahmad “Rocky” Niazi, of Narre Warren North.
Mr Niazi was recently described in Supreme Court proceedings as a “senior Comanchero” who played a “controlling role” in crimes committed by other gang members.
In an address to a jury, prominent barrister Peter Morrisey SC said: “Rocky Niazi is a senior Comanchero involved in two previous attempted murders of “Afghan Ali” Keshtiar and Farshad Rasooli, each of which resulted in the wrong person being shot.”
Mr Morrissey had earlier alleged Mr Niazi was willing to have people killed simply for speaking disrespectfully.
“It was said that Farshad Rasooli had disrespected somebody to do with Rocky Niazi, and, therefore, you know, there needed to be some punishment and that’s how the shooting came about,” he said.
Mr Niazi has never been charged over the incident.
Mr Morrissey also alleged Mr Niazi was involved in chasing the drug debts of a crime figure whose parents were menaced by Comanchero.
The unlikely-sounding corporate entity behind Nitro Gym in Hallam – Skin and Laser Corporation pty ltd – was originally set up to run a nearby beauty salon, Essential Skin and Laser Clinic.
Precisely how Mr Niazi’s relative came to control Nitro Hallam is unclear, but Frankston Magistrates Court in 2022 heard that the last man to have a formal stake in the gyms, Nawid Rashidi, was paid more than $90,000 in cash as a partial payment for control of the gyms.
Neither Mr Niazi nor his relative could be contacted for comment, and an address listed on documents filed with ASIC appeared unoccupied.
The installation of the woman – who has no criminal record and who the Herald Sun is not accusing of any wrongdoing – as the director of a company that runs a lucrative gang-linked business appears to be part of a pattern.
The company behind Nitro Bayside, in Mordialloc, is similarly directed by a Thornhill Park relative of two powerful gang members.
The woman, who also has no criminal record.
Her prominent bikie relatives cannot be named for legal reasons.
One of them was deported from Australia on bad character grounds in October 2022 and arrested in Tonga last year after he allegedly helped establish a chapter of the gang on the pacific island.
He was arrested as part of Tonga Police’s Operation Burrito, which saw the seizure of multiple kilograms of methamphetamine, gang paraphernalia, and large quantities of cash.
The woman could not be reached for comment, and neighbours said they had not recently seen anyone come or go from the Thornhill Park home listed as her address on ASIC records.
Most recently, a female relative gang associate Peter Sampson, took over as the director of the company behind the two Iron Kingdom gyms at Preston and Ringwood.
Mr Sampson, who remains the owner of the gym, is not a gang member, but has long had ties to a senior figure gang figure.
Mr Sampson almost went broke after a series of planning battles stemming from his failure to obtain proper permits for a now-defunct gym in Heidelberg.
The female director of his company could also not be reached for comment, and the residential address listed on her ASIC filings are located behind a large, locked gate.
Another former Nitro gym, in Carrum Downs, closed in 2022 and the company behind it was deregistered. Its owner and director was gang associate Krstomir “Kris” Bjelogrlic.
Precisely why all the Nitro and Iron Kingdom gyms are now being directed by women linked to gang members or associates is unclear, but so-called “tranche 2” anti-money laundering laws passed by federal parliament will bring increased scrutiny to legitimate businesses with even loose links to outlaw groups.
The installation of the women in the key corporate roles also follows an unprecedented period of scrutiny from bikie-busting law enforcement agencies.
Many of the Comanchero’s senior members have been arrested and are awaiting trial over investigations stemming from large alleged drug imports organised on encrypted phone app ANOM, which was made and organised by the Australian Federal Police.
Three senior members of the Melbourne chapter of the gang have been found guilty of the murder of Mitat Rasimi.