Man charged over $2.3 million robbery of Armaguard van in Richmond
GANGLAND detectives have charged a Melbourne kick-boxing identity with the notorious 1994 Richmond road gang cash van robbery.
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GANGLAND detectives have charged a Melbourne kick-boxing identity with the notorious 1994 Richmond road gang cash van robbery.
Police yesterday pounced on Pasquale “Percy No Mercy” Lanciana, 22 years after bandits stole up to $2.3 million from an Armaguard van.
Mr Lanciana was arrested at a home in Seddon and charged with armed robbery, robbery, kidnapping, false imprisonment, car theft, handling stolen goods and money laundering. He later appeared at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
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His lawyer told the court she hadn’t had time to prepare an application for bail on Mr Lanciana’s behalf because of the volume of material in the case against him.
Police have applied to the court for an order that would force Mr Lanciana to give DNA evidence. Police have been given until December 30 to prepare their brief of evidence outlining his alleged involvement in the 1994 holdup.
Mr Lanciana has been remanded to reappear in court on December 2.
His is the latest in a series of arrests by detectives from Operation Tideland, who since 2013 have been investigating a series of major crimes, including three executions.
Mr Lanciana’s friend and fellow fight coach Paul Fyfield was in February this year charged over a $1.1 million theft from a cash delivery van at Sunshine in 2006.
Dozens of other people remain under close scrutiny.
They include two brothers heavily connected with Melbourne’s outlaw motorcycle scene and legal and financial figures suspected of helping the bandits invest the proceeds of their crimes.
The Herald Sun revealed this year that career criminal Alexander “Sandy” McLean had exposed the secrets of Tideland suspects. He died in his native Scotland several years ago, but not before giving a detailed account of what he knew of the gang.
He had allegedly conducted surveillance on the Armaguard van for months before its crew was rolled at gunpoint in a precision heist by a team of bandits posing as road workers.