Tommy Ivanovic charged with insurance fraud after arrest
Tommy Ivanovic has been charged with insurance fraud after being arrested over the murder of standover man Richard Mladenich in a seedy St Kilda motel. The slaying has long been considered one of Melbourne’s most significant underworld killings.
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A man has been arrested over the murder of underworld bodyguard Richard Mladenich in 2000.
Tommy Ivanovic, was yesterday arrested in Brunswick West in a major breakthrough for Purana taskforce investigators.
He was also interviewed over allegations of cocaine trafficking and vehicle insurance fraud.
Mr Ivanovic has since been charged with obtaining property by deception in relation to an alleged insurance fraud.
Mr Ivanovic, 44, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court today for a brief administrative hearing that went for less than 30 seconds.
Wearing a long-sleeved khaki sweatshirt, he sat quietly in the dock, occasionally glancing and nodding at his supporters in court, including his partner, who had their six-month-old baby beside her in a pram.
His lawyer Anthony Condello successfully applied for the case to be adjourned to Sunshine Magistrates Court next week.
Charge sheets, released by the court, reveal he is accused of dishonestly obtaining $15,000 from AAMI insurance, by “purposefully causing damage to two vehicles to make a fraudulent insurance claim”.
He is also facing a charge of attempting to obtain property by deception through making false claims to the insurer.
Both charges relate to alleged conduct in Sunshine on September 7 this year.
His arrest is a huge win for detectives, who launched a major review into the cold case murder in July this year.
Detectives swooped on him at an address in Moreland Rd about 11am yesterday in a major operation involving heavily armed police and the dog squad.
Footage of the arrest shows two plain clothes detectives leading him from a red brick home in handcuffs and into an unmarked police car.
Bags of evidence were also seized by detectives.
The murder of Mladenich in May 2000 is considered one of Melbourne’s most significant underworld slayings.
The feared standover man and drug dealer was in a St Kilda hotel room with three other people when he met his violent end.
A gunman wearing sunglasses silently entered room 18 of the seedy Esquire Motel on Acland St and shot him dead about 3.30am.
A tiny .25 calibre pistol is thought to have been the murder weapon.
Purana taskforce head Detective Inspector Jacqui Curran said in July multiple people were involved in the crime and others knew what had happened.
This was in part due to the belief the gunman had rock solid information Mladenich was in the motel room.
“Someone had to know he was there. It had to involve more than one person,” Insp. Curran said.
Purana taskforce detectives spent the past three months pulling apart the Mladenich file to make yesterday’s arrest happen.
They were confident three groups of people knew what happened.
This included those who planned and witnessed the hit and the people who had knowledge of the killing after the fact.
Ivanovic’s arrest comes as a huge relief to the family of Mladenich, who were devastated over his death.
His brother Richard told the Herald Sun in July his brother “didn’t deserved what he got” and he was a “good family member”.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.