Roberta Williams freed on bail after arrest at Melbourne home over kidnap, extortion claims
Gangland widow Roberta Williams has been granted bail after shocking details of kidnapping and extortion allegations against her emerged in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Gangland widow Roberta Williams told her extortion victim “I’m the f---ing godmother you f---wit” as a co-accused pulled a gun on him and demanded he transfer cash to them, a court has heard.
Shocking details of the kidnapping and extortion allegations against the former wife of gangland drug boss Carl Williams were aired as she made a successful bid for bail at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
— Do you know more? Email brianna.travers@news.com.au
The court heard the mother of two threatened her victim, Ryan Naumenko, who was a producer helping her to make her reality TV show, on July 9.
Mr Naumenko told police Williams ordered her three co-accused to “kill the c---” after forcing him to ask relatives to transfer $17,000 to a bank account in two separate transactions.
“He has no money. We have what we want. We have no use for him anymore,” Williams allegedly said.
During the ordeal, Mr Naumenko said his attackers put a bar fridge cord around his neck and repeatedly punched him in the face.
When he tried to text for help, they threatened to cut off his fingers and break his hands, the court heard.
He said he had been lured to Cloakroom Media on Rokeby St in Collingwood believing it was a party to celebrate the new TV show.
He was later dumped from a car, the court heard, and told not to “lag”.
“You’re lucky I didn’t kill your children or put a hole in your mother’s head,” Williams allegedly told him.
She also allegedly threatened she would tell the police he raped a woman if he was “a dog c---” and told anyone.
Williams, 50, shook her head in the dock as the allegations against her were read out.
Detective Senior Constable Lisa Hollingsworth told the court Williams was arrested on Wednesday morning and had not been deemed fit for interview after she trashed chairs in the room at the police station.
But Williams quickly remarked from the dock that she had upturned the chairs because she had been “taunted” by police about her dead husband.
Barrister Theo Alexander, for Williams, told the court Mr Naumenko was a “complete con artist” who had priors for obtaining financial advantage.
He said Williams would be fighting the allegations and asked magistrate Bob Kumar to grant her bail so she could care for her eight-year-old autistic son.
Mr Kumar granted bail on strict conditions including a curfew and daily reporting to police. She also has to pay a $10,000 surety.
Her case was adjourned until October 8.
Co-accused James Harrison, 24, from Craigieburn, was also bailed on Wednesday night with strict conditions to report daily to Craigieburn police station daily and to provide $5000 surety.
He was warned to not attempt to contact witnesses.
Court documents show he is charged with threatening to kill Ryan Naumenko, seriously injuring him, recklessly injuring him, falsely imprisoning him and stealing his wallet.
Supported in court by his mother and other family members, Mr Harrison blew a kiss to the gallery as he sat silently wearing a grey and black jumper.
The court heard Mr Harrison had no prior convictions, was employed full-time and was paying off a mortgage.
Mr Harrison’s defence counsel John Sutton argued the prosecution case against his client was “very weak”.
“It relies substantially if not entirely on the credibility of the complainant in the matter. In my submission that credibility is very much in question,” he said.
Magistrate Bob Kumar said there was always a risk granting bail but that risk was greatly reduced by the strict conditions imposed.
Mr Harrison was ordered to reappear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on October 8.
The other co-accused who appeared in court on Wednesday night, Jake Sexton, 24, from Greensborough, did not apply for bail and was remanded for a filing hearing on Thursday.
Mr Sexton appeared briefly in the dock wearing a Chicago Bulls T-shirt, with a crew cut and tattoos on his neck and on both arms.
WILLIAMS ARRESTED
Williams was charged on Wednesday morning after she was arrested in Melbourne’s northwest.
The former wife of gangland drug boss Carl Williams was escorted in handcuffs from a Strathmore home before she swore at a reporter as she was being taken into an unmarked police car.
It is understood she was taken to Spencer St for questioning by police.
Three other men were also charged and faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Daniel De Silva, 36, of Princes Hill, was arrested on July 12 at Melbourne Airport as he tried to board a flight to Europe. He is facing false imprisonment, threats to kill and assault charges and is on bail.
Mr De Silva works for video production company Cloakroom Media, which is used by some of Australia’s biggest stars. Carrie Bickmore, Sylvia Jefferies, Shane Crawford, Steph Claire Smith and Laura Henshaw are among celebrities to have worked with the Collingwood company.
Cloakroom Media is believed to have been enlisted to film the underworld documentary.
Mr Naumenko is himself a serial fraud and has spent time behind bars for dudding people on Gumtree.
Jake Sexton and James Harrison, who Williams told the court was “like a son”, were also arrested during dawn raids on Wednesday.
All will return to court on October 8.
A fourth man was also arrested yesterday but later released without charge.
Victoria Police’s fraud and extortion squad executed five search warrants in Craigieburn, Greensborough and Strathmore as part of an ongoing investigation.
Justin Lucas, a friend of Williams, said he was “shell-shocked” at the arrest news.
“I am very close to Roberta, I am shell-shocked,” he told the Herald Sun. “She has been quite ill the last few weeks.
“She has been so sick. She has struggled day to day with her own health.”
Williams recently posted to social media about the date the reality TV program, which she has been filming, would go to air.
She also said the media loved to lie about her.
“They love to tell lies, the media thrive on talking s--- about me,” a recent post on Facebook said.
“All I am trying to do is move forward but every time I try they drag me down.”
It comes weeks after a cameraman behind the gangland widow’s reality TV show was charged with kidnapping and extortion.
Alleged victim Ryan Naumenko claimed he was lured into an apartment and forced at gunpoint to ask relatives to transfer $17,000 to a bank account.
Victoria Police last month charged a 36-year-old man with false imprisonment, threats to kill and assault charges after an incident in Collingwood on July 9.
The man was arrested on July 12 at a Melbourne airport.
He has been bailed to appear in court in October.
The Herald Sun has contacted the TV producer for comment.
In June, Ms Williams and her teenage daughter, Dhakota, launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise $50,000 for their new reality TV show.
Promising to show Australia “what it’s like to be Roberta Williams”, the unnamed TV show was touted as Mob Wives meets Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
ROBERTA WANTS YOU TO FUND REALITY SHOW
WILLIAMS DRAWN INTO REALITY TV KIDNAP CLAIMS
It also vowed to air “the truth regarding the Lawyer X scandal”, which has engulfed Victoria Police.
Donation perks included a personal phone call and thank you from Williams.
The campaign has raised $865.
Williams’ ex-husband, Carl, was bludgeoned to death with the stem of an exercise bike at Barwon Prison in April 2010.
The drug lord was serving a life sentence for ordering the murders of three underworld rivals and the failed conspiracy to murder a fourth person.
He was found guilty of murdering gangland figures Jason Moran, Lewis Moran and Michael Marshall.