Businessman nabbed in Qld linked to major bikie bust

A businessman has been detained in Queensland after the leader of one of Australia’s most powerful outlaw motorcycle gangs, and his lawyer, were arrested.

Detectives from the organised crime Echo taskforce arrested Comanchero Motorcycle Club President Mick Murray. Picture: Ian Currie

Comanchero boss Mick Murray has been arrested in a tax fraud operation by anti-bikie detectives.

The operation, which centres on allegations of asset concealment, has also ensnared Murray’s lawyer John Voitin.

They were among four people arrested by detectives from the organised crime Echo taskforce.

Also charged were a 58-year-old Mount Martha man, who was detained in Queensland, and a 45-year-old woman from Cranbourne North.

The man arrested in Queensland by national anti-gangs squad members was Graham Ritchie, a businessman friend of Murray.

In 2019, Mr Ritchie put up a $1 million court surety so his mate could travel to Thailand for a holiday while on bail.

Murray, 43, of Lysterfield, was arrested on Thursday and has been charged with conspiring to dishonestly cause a loss to the Commonwealth and told to front court on November 30.

Mr Voitin, 64, of Kew, faces the same charge after being arrested on Friday and will appear in court next Tuesday.

Comanchero bikie Mick Murray was arrested in a tax fraud operation. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

They also face a count of conspiring to dishonestly cause a loss to the Commonwealth.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said: “These arrests form part of an ongoing investigation into business enterprises and services linked to the Comanchero OMCG”.

There was a wave of Melbourne raids and arrests in 2018 related to the same operation.

“Police will allege that between 2014 and 2018, the four people charged hid assets to avoid a tax debt,” the police spokeswoman said.

Murray, who has been the national president of the Comancheros for some years, has previously had an interest in the Nitro gym at Hallam in Melbourne’s southeast.

He led the gang on a major run last year which started at Nitro.

Mr Voitin’s Stanton Grant legal firm was among premises raided in the 2018 part of the operation.

It has been a challenging few years for Mr Voitin.

He was shot in the driveway of his Kew home last year and his Bellarine Peninsula property was burnt in a 2019 arson attack.

The Herald Sun revealed that Mr Voitin’s wife Clare had been embroiled in a bitter legal battle over allegations she benefited from $2 million of someone else’s money.

Mrs Voitin – a self-described ideas guru, gin producer, food gardener and author – came out on top when a County Court judge ruled there was not enough evidence she knowingly received the money.