Norman Leung "Chops" Lee dodges time after being nabbed over Victoria's infamous Great Bookie Robbery

1970s trials: ONLY one man ever faced court over Victoria's most famous heist, the Great Bookie Robbery in Queen St, in 1976.

great bookie robbery mugshots

1970s trials: ONLY one man ever faced court over Victoria's most famous heist, the Great Bookie Robbery.

A gang of at least six men with machine guns took just 11 minutes to rob the Victorian Club in Queen St, Melbourne, of at least $1.5 million on April 21, 1976.

The hold-up was carefully planned to coincide with a time when bookies would be settling for  races held over Easter.

The true value of the robbery is unknown, but some believe it was as much as $15 million.

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great bookie robbery mugshots

In the months before the robbery, dim sim manufacturer Norman Leung "Chops" Lee had been desperate to get a loan to upgrade his factory, without success.

Dim sim maker was a heavy gangster too

But soon after the daring heist he suddenly came into $270,000 in cash.

Lee was charged with the armed robbery of the Victorian Club and with receiving stolen money.

He faced court in 1977, along with his de facto wife and another woman accused of conspiracy.

Great Bookie Robbery, setting room

Lee's accountant Alfred Acquaro told Melbourne Magistrates' Court that Lee arrived at his office with a cardboard box containing $50,000 in cash not long after asking him to arrange a business loan.

Lee explained that he had won the money gambling.

The hearing was told Lee had paid cash for $13,000 worth of extensions to his house and dim sim factory, and ordered machinery worth about $60,000.

But police were forced to admit at the hearing they had no direct evidence linking Lee to the robbery.

Sgt Henry Huggins, a forensic and crime scene expert, gave evidence that the Great Bookie Robbery was an inside job.

He said a bolt and screws had been removed from a door, and there was evidence some drilling had been done from the inside.

Witnesses described the bandits bursting into the club at lunchtime, clad in khaki and wearing balaclavas.

They were armed, with at least one carrying a machine gun.

There were about 40 people in the club, including clerks making deliveries of cash and workers enjoying a bite to eat.

They were marched into a billiard room and made to lie on the floor.

But none could identify Lee as being one of the robbers.

Charges against Lee were dismissed, and none of the other robbers has ever been charged.

But there are strong theories about those behind the heist.

Lee was a close associate of the suspected mastermind of the hold-up, Ray "Chuck" Bennett.

Bennett – a close associate of the notorious Painters and Dockers - was murdered at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court in 1979 as two unarmed police walked him towards a courtroom.

Several others believed to have been involved, including drug dealer Dennis William "Greedy" Smith, are also dead.

Meet Greedy Smith on Andrew Rule's black list

Notorious gangland figures Les and Brian Kane were believed to have tried to strong-arm the bookie robbery bandits into handing over the cash.

Brian Kane brought down in Brunswick pub

Lee himself was shot dead by police during a bungled heist in 1992, after he fell from the getaway van after robbing the Ansett building at Melbourne Airport.

Ian Revell Carroll

How 'Chops' Lee met his fate