Slain lawyer Joseph Acquaro told of his political influence during Herald Sun meetings

SLAIN lawyer Joseph “Pino” Acquaro told of his political influence during months of meetings with the Herald Sun.

Joseph “Pino” Acquaro (inset) and Malcolm Turnbull, one of the politians he claims the “Honoured Society” had access to.

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JOSEPH “Pino’’ Acquaro opened a bottle of top-shelf ­liquor, plonked down two shot glasses, and began to talk.

Murdered gangland lawyer Joe Acquaro. Picture: Supplied.

The softly spoken lawyer, 54, had been fighting a war with the Madafferi brothers, fruit grocers Tony and Frank, who he claimed were intent on destroying his reputation, his family life, and now his life.

Pino, who had been close to the Madafferis, even travelling abroad with Frank’s son, became embroiled in a bitter feud with his long-time friends after he and Frank traded blows inside the lawyer’s restaurant, the Gelobar in Brunswick East, three years before his murder.

In the lead-up to the violence, his parents were being extorted and bullets left in the mailbox, legal fees were unpaid, and finally his sons were turned against him.

It came amid Frank’s legal battle over his part in attempting to import the world’s biggest ecstasy haul into Australia — a crime of which he would be convicted in 2014.

He also wanted the Gelobar business.

Over months of meetings with the Herald Sun, Pino would confirm his role as a facilitator for Melbourne’s Calabrian mafia.

Tony Madafferi has never fallen foul of the law, but his associations and gambling at Crown Casino prompted then Victoria Police chief commissioner Ken Lay to exclude him from the venue in 2014.

Pino said his isolation from the group had harmed its political influence.

The Herald Sun is not suggesting that Mr Madafferi is involved in any criminal activity.

Acquaro claimed that without him the “Honoured Society’’ had lost its “power base’’ to ambassadors, politicians and the broader business community: “I have the keys. They have disrespected me and now they’re gone.’’

Politicians he claimed the group had access to included Russell Broadbent, Bruce Billson and Malcolm Turnbull.

In one of a series of unsigned letters, seen by the Herald Sun , he writes of a plan to set up an association, Da Vinci, to promote their members into parliament.

It read: “To date most of the associations both semi government and private promote cultural and non-political issues. I believe that the association by this objective could encourage or inspire individuals to promote the interests of its members through the political systems, which may include the support or endorsement of a particular candidate to the Italian or Australian parliaments.’’

Pino had knowledge of the inner workings of the mafia, the businesses and the rackets, and even insider knowledge of the murders. He was chosen at 17 by then “Godfather’’ Liborio Benvenuto and groomed to be the “ l’avvocato’’ — the adviser.

But things turned when his first marriage fell apart. Family is all-important within the Honoured Society.

Pino had used all his influence and legal nous to keep Tony Madafferi’s little brother, Frank, from being deported, as ordered by Howard government immigration minister Philip Ruddock in 2000. After heavy lobbying by at least three Liberal parliamentarians, Mr Ruddock’s successor, Amanda Vanstone, granted Frank Madafferi a spousal visa on humanitarian grounds in November 2005 despite his criminal history in Italy.

Australian Federal Police found there was not enough evidence to substantiate corruption through the political donation process, in which it is believed more than $100,000 had been funnelled into political coffers by the group.

Within a decade, police gained intelligence about a contract on Pino’s life. Tony Madafferi was approached and warned that if anything happened to Acquaro they would know where to look.

In March, as Pino walked out of his Brunswick East restaurant, he was gunned down.

Joe Acquaro was found dead in St Phillip St in a targeted execution in Brunswick East. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Pino had been offered witness protection, but refused. He had tried to rally the Italian community and believed he would not be harmed.

Whether his murder was a result of his mafia connections is not known; police are continuing to investigate. He had fallen out badly with a tradesman, whom the Herald Sun has chosen not to name, who allegedly set fire to his restaurant.

“The pen is mightier than the sword,’’ Acquaro once wrote to me. It was no match for a gun after midnight.