Sami Saleh: Bar None Group owner busted with cocaine
The owner of two of Melbourne’s hottest CBD nightspots Ms Collins and Alumbra was busted with cocaine while driving his sports car in Gladstone Park. But his excuse didn’t go down well with a magistrate.
West
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A high flying event manager and mastermind behind some of Melbourne’s hottest bars has pleaded guilty to possessing illegal party drugs.
Sami Saleh, the managing director of the Bar None Group and a partner of Roar Projects, which runs the hugely popular CBD venues Ms Collins and Alumbra, didn’t appear at his short plea hearing held online at the Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, October 22.
But court documents revealed he was busted with 0.82g of cocaine when police searched his flashy grey 2017 Ford Mustang Coupe at Gladstone Park shopping centre on May 2.
Saleh’s lawyer Bernard Balmer told the court his client was stressed at the time as a result of the Covid pandemic and Melbourne’s lockdown, which had impacted his businesses.
He also told the court Saleh, a divorced father of two teenagers, had been under a lot of pressure following the State Government’s forced closure of the Alumbra and other venues at Docklands Central Pier due to structural damage to the pier’s footings.
Mr Balmer told the court his 43-year-old client had since moved out of his apartment and been forced to move back home with his parents.
He also told the court Saleh was relying on JobKeeper payments while his businesses were closed.
Magistrate Olivia Trumble noted Saleh had no prior convictions for drug related matters.
But she said the successful businessman should have known better than to be caught with drugs.
“Mr Saleh is 43 years old and he’s old enough to deal with difficult times in a better way,” Ms Trumble said.
Saleh pleaded guilty to one charge of drug possession through his lawyer and was fined $500 without conviction.
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