Werribee’s Danyal Ghanbarzadeh blackmailed man’s brother into handing over car and $1000 cash

A Werribee man who endured a violent childhood forced his victim to call his brother over a $6000 debt and made a sickening threat.

Danyal Ghanbarzadeh, 20 pleaded guilty to blackmail, along with a string of drugs and weapons offences. Picture: generic

A young migrant with a troubled past who blackmailed a man’s brother into surrendering a car and $1000 cash as collateral asked him how much the victim’s life was worth.

Danyal Ghanbarzadeh was released from prison after 217 days following sentencing in the County Court for blackmail and a string of weapons, drugs, and proceeds of crime offences.

On July 14 2021, Ghanbarzadeh waited outside a man’s home in North Melbourne and when he returned from the laundromat he was pulled aside and ordered to get into a vehicle.

Ghanbarzadeh, then 18-year-old, believed the victim owed him $6000 and said he would remain in the car until payment arrangements were made.

The victim, a 26-year-old man, then contacted his brother and said he was in a car with a group of men holding knives and if payment could not be made then he would be stabbed.

During the phone call, the victim’s brother heard comments such as “what is your brother’s life worth to you?”.

The victim’s brother agreed to assist the men and obtained $1000 cash which he placed inside his car — a Toyota Camry — valued at $5000 to be surrendered as collateral until the remainder was paid.

The car was left at a location with the money inside.

Following investigations, police executed a search warrant at Ghanbarzadeh’s Werribee address where police located $52,000 cash in a cupboard.

Police also located an AK-47 gel blaster, small amounts of cannabis, valium and endone.

During a separate search at a Wollert property Ghanbarzadeh was subleasing, police found nine ovens and cooktops that were confirmed to be stolen during a January burglary in Chadstone.

Police also located three prohibited weapons including a hunting knife, flick knife and a taser.

During this period, Ghanbarzadeh was on bail.

While in custody, he called associates and encouraged them to get the victim to report to police that the pair were friends and the situation was “not how his brother explained”.

He also told the associates he was facing a lengthy sentence and told them to “go and fix it”.

During sentencing, Judge Daniel Holding noted a psychological report that expanded on Ghanbarzadeh’s “unfortunate background”.

The report said the now 20-year-old was born in Iran before moving to Australia at age 11 when he was granted a protection visa.

During his childhood there was civil unrest and he witnessed violent episodes including a man having his wrist chopped off and another shot dead by authorities.

He struggled to assimilate when his family moved to Dandenong and was bullied at school.

When they settled in Hoppers Crossing, he developed a peer network of young drug users and was later expelled from school in Year 9.

Ghanbarzadeh was convicted of blackmail, possessing drugs of dependence, being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, attempt to pervert the course of justice, possessing prohibited weapons, and dealing with property suspected of being proceeds of crime.

He was also placed on an eight-month community corrections order.