How the Rebels bikie gang fell apart amid murder, broken silences

The bikie club which forbade its members from using meth or heroin descended into chaos amid bloody murder and broken taboos. Read the descent of the Rebels— and what started it all.

Two members dead, a dysfunctional chapter full of infighting and a president who broke the code of silence in court.

This is how the once powerful Rebels imploded.

A shadow of its former self, one of Australia’s biggest outlaw motorcycle gangs
became so dysfunctional in 2015 that two chapters were threatening to kill each other.

That spiralling of morale set off a chain of events that have now seen multiple members of the Rebels killed.

A senior Rebels bikie, who cannot be named, has for the first time exposed the gory details of what led to their downfall after breaking the code of silence and telling all in court.

A senior member of the Rebels motorcycle gang has detailed in court how the group fell apart.

His name had to be suppressed due to his willingness to co-operate with authorities – a move that can be a death sentence.

He was the star witness at a coronial inquest earlier this year that examined the deaths of bikie Darren Wallace and his killer, who can only be called “TBD”.

In October 2015 he put a resolution to the Campbelltown chapter for a group of members to leave the gang.

The only problem is that it came with a price tag: $10,000 if you had been in the gang less than five years.

But after telling police several of the men had been getting “knocks on the door” for the money and their colours, which was “causing some stress”, things started to spiral out of control.

Rebels bikie Darren Wallace’s coffin arrives at his funeral after he was gunned down in Picton. Picture: Adam Taylor

Whether the members of the chapter left voluntarily or were expelled was not made clear to the inquest, but rumours were rife to police that members were booted for using ice before Wallace died.

But his death, and that of his killer TBD a few hours later, were just the start of the Rebels’ downfall.

Around the same time trouble was brewing across several of the Rebels chapters in western Sydney.

Mount Druitt president Troy Cusens had just been charged, accused of delivering a fellow member to the Penrith chapter clubhouse where they shot him and beat him so bad with a baseball bat it broke.

Just a year later a chapter in Burwood headed by serial hit man Abuzar Sultani went rogue and transformed into Sydney’s most feared killers for hire.

The first on their list was one of their own, Penrith chapter enforcer Michael Davey.

Davey was lured by an associate of Sultani’s before he and fellow ex-Rebel Siar Munshizada gunned him down in the driveway of a Kingswood home.

Abuzar Sultan.

In 2021 another senior member of the Rebels, Insta-famous bikie Chris Rymer, found himself in the firing line. Rymer was shot in a taxi in Riverstone, sustaining grim injuries to his testicles.

Despite boasting 60 chapters in NSW the club appears to have lost the power battle in the state to the Comanchero.

One source from within the legal fraternity said the Rebels had been overtaken in reach by the Comanchero because they “don’t recruit Middle Eastern men”.

As recently as this week their floundering was on show when Rebels royalty Jesse Vella, whose cousin is the club’s president, patched over to the Comanchero.

A senior cop revealed that within the Rebels, unlike other gangs, drug use was frowned upon – despite gangs often being synonymous with the sale and distribution of drugs.

Rebels bikie member Chris Rymer. Picture: Instagram

The Rebels had a firm “no meth, no heroin policy” with use of the drugs considered “taboo”. During the coronial inquest, Detective Sergeant Bruce Groenewegen revealed that the Rebels “constitution” – seized during a raid on an Eschol Park clubhouse – warned members to stay “completely away” from drugs.

“Although you are not expected to be a Boy Scout, drugs are something you and your club can go without,” it read.

“Heroin and ice smoking is completely taboo in the club, don’t let any member see you even associate (with it). Anyone involved with heroin or ice, your defence will fall on deaf ears.”

The Rebels can trace their roots in Australia back to 1972, inspired by America’s bikie gangs, which originally provided an informal network for servicemen returning from active duty who missed the structure and camaraderie of the military.

Rebels Bikie Darren Wallace Funeral

In Australia, some Rebels chapters are made up solely of ex-military and ex-police personnel.

“There’s no way of predicting it in terms of a pattern. There certainly are ex-military and there certainly have been ex-police who have joined outlaw motorcycle gangs,” Detective Sergeant Groenewegen said.

“I think you could say that … perhaps there are some veteran clubs around who are exclusively veterans or ex-military.”

Wallace’s killer TBD joined the Rebels after he was discharged from the Australian Army in 2012, having served two tours in Afghanistan.

He suffered psychological issues following his release and spent some time as an inpatient before he met the president of the Campbelltown Chapter of the Rebels, quickly progressing to a senior position as Sergeant at Arms of the club.

Wallace owned a leather store in Picton called “Such is Leather” and was also the president of the Oran Park Chapter of the Rebels.

Darren Wallace, senior member of the Rebels bikie gang.

On December 9, 2015, TBD arrived at Such is Leather, where CCTV captured him stuffing what’s believed to be a firearm down the front of his pants.

The men shook hands before Wallace placed his fingers over his mouth and then pointed towards the roof. The pair walked along Argyle St in Picton before a number of witnesses recall Wallace telling his would-be assassin they “couldn’t do it” until either he of they “received a call”.

The court heard investigating police said it was possible that conversation was in
reference to some aspect of Rebels business.

“It may be that Mr Wallace was trying to reason with or stall TBD by referring him to a high ranking member,” Coroner Harriet Grahame said in her findings.

“It may be that they were discussing some aspect of the obligation to make an exit payment. We have no way of knowing.”

The pair walked to a nearby service station where Wallace was heard saying to TBD “it’s not worth it mate, just walk away” and “don’t make a scene, I’m getting a drink”.

Police at the scene where Wallace was killed. Picture: Dean Lewins

Police recovering TBD’s body from the creek. Picture: 7News

It was found likely that by this point Wallace knew his life was in severe danger and he was doing all he could to buy time.

Wallace was then executed as he raised his hand above his head and surrendered to the killer. TBD then called the president of his Rebels chapter, confessed to the killing and said “I left myself back in Afghanistan. I can’t do it anymore.”

He then went to nearby Stone Quarry Creek and shot himself.

Information from inside the club suggested the killer had been “put up” to shooting Wallace by a more senior member, and that he was “easily manipulated” due to his mental health issues.

Other reports suggested issues surrounding the payment of exit fees, possible conflicts between neighbouring clubs and threats to others.

Magistrate Grahame found that the men’s deaths “occurred at a time of some turmoil in the Campbelltown/MacArthur chapter of the Rebels OMCG.

The decision he took to shoot Wallace arose out of escalating tensions within the Rebels”.

Originally published as How the Rebels bikie gang fell apart amid murder, broken silences