Jailed drug dealer Rocco Arico’s parents in legal battle over $470k Commonwealth bank claim
THE parents of recently jailed drug dealer Rocco Arico could lose their Brunswick home after being accused of taking $470,000 from the Commonwealth Bank.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Melbourne gangland figure back in jail
- Rocco’s relative tries to take the fall
- New figure in tangled underworld web
THE parents of recently jailed drug dealer Rocco Arico could lose their Brunswick home after being accused of taking $470,000 from the Commonwealth Bank.
The bank launched action against Antonio and Antonia Arico in the Supreme Court to recoup money it loaned them in 2015 against the sale of a Mt Eliza property.
The loan coincided with Rocco Arico’s lengthy legal battle after his arrest in March 2015 when police allegedly caught him with a key to a Vespa in which a pistol, ammunition, drugs and $24,000 in cash had been hidden.
It’s not the first property bubble to burst for the Aricos, with a County Court jury hearing in October that Rocco tried to bump up the price of a house under auction by $40,000 during a bid to heavy the seller, former mate turned police snitch, Arthur Vouthas, out of drug debt.
Now the Commonwealth Bank claims it agreed to loan Arico’s parents $470,000 through a “business transaction temporary limit account” in October 2015, which was to be repaid when settlement of the April sale of a Mt Eliza property was reached.
The bank’s statement of claim says settlement occurred on October 30, 2015, but the Aricos did not pay back the loan.
When Mr and Mrs Arico failed to appear in court in February after Mrs Arico was served with a writ, the bank won a default judgment in its favour.
The couple were ordered to pay $468,212.66, plus interest of 17.94 per cent — accruing at $227 a day — plus the bank’s $4265 legal bill. Failure to pay could see the bank seek to liquidate the couple’s assets, including their Albion St home.
Mrs Arico appeared to reject the bank’s claim when visited by the Sunday Herald Sun.
“Who told you this rubbish?” she said when shown the court judgment. “Go and show somebody else but not me.”
Last month Rocco Arico, who had pleaded not guilty to extortion, assault, drug trafficking and gun charges, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, with a minimum of 10 years.
Suspected of being a senior figure in the Calabrian mafia, Arico faces deportation to his native Italy on release.
Judge Geoffrey Chettle described the 38-year-old as “a complete outlaw”.
“You saw Brunswick as your personal fiefdom. You controlled real estate agents, bankers and building contractors,” he said.