Could Bemir Saracevic be Melbourne’s next bikie kingpin?

Bemir Saracevic raised eyebrows among law enforcement when he arrived at a Comanchero bikie run in a $700k Lamborghini — not bad for a house painter.

By day, Bemir “Benji” Saracevic is a hardworking house painter. At the weekend, he is among Melbourne’s best-connected and most-influential bikies.

In a remarkable display of bravado last weekend, Saracevic, 35, arrived at the start of the Comanchero bikie gang’s national rally at an industrial estate in Hallam driving a $700,000 Lamborghini Aventador, raising eyebrows among law enforcement.

A gang associate snapped photos of him and his entourage, which included his close mate, Krstomir “Kris” Bjelogrlic, who was a passenger in a tailing $500,000 Lamborghini Huracan.

Allan Meehan with Bemir Saracevic at the George Kambosos vs. Devin Haney title fight at Marvel Stadium.

Mr Bjelogrlic, a builder, owns a franchise of the Nitro Gym chain, which is closely linked to former gang boss Mick Murray, who is also among Saracevic’s close mates.

Saracevic, who joined the Comanchero in 2013, and who served a stint as the Melbourne chapter’s treasurer, has recently re-emerged as one of the key figures in the gang’s local chapter, at a time in which its ranks have been gutted by anti-organised crime investigators.

In recent months, Saracevic has posed for photos in club regalia alongside his close mate, Melbourne-based national sergeant-at-arms Tarek Zahed.

Former gang boss Mick Murray is also among Saracevic’s close mates. Picture: Ian Currie

He was a guest of the gang’s national president Allan Meehan at the George Kambosos vs. Devin Haney title fight at Marvel Stadium in June.

According to underworld and law enforcement sources, Saracevic has been tapped as a potential office holder should Zahed be refused bail when he fronts the NSW Supreme Court this month, a move which would prompt national and local leadership shake-ups.

Saracevic’s time in the gang hasn’t always been easy. In 2016 his wife, Danijela, gave sworn evidence she “voiced her disapproval” about him joining three years earlier, when the couple had three young children, a thriving small business and a mortgage.

Judge Paul Lacava said Saracevic had “embraced life as a Comanchero” and urged him to leave the gang, before jailing him for a minimum of three years on a string of charges, including his leading roles in the 2013 blackmails of property developers Lance Pinder and Keith Tribe.

Saracevic joined the Comanchero in 2013 and has recently re-emerged as one of the key figures in the gang’s local chapter.

He was also pulled over by police with a loaded handgun on his way to a meeting at the gang’s now-defunct Nitro Inc Tattoo Shop.

Saracevic’s thuggish early stint in the gang baffled Judge Lacava, who said: “You come from a good family and have a loving and supportive wife”.

A former child refugee from war-torn Bosnia, Saracevic appears to have been drawn to the Comanchero by a contingent of members with Bosnian backgrounds

Despite having joined the Comanchero just months earlier, Saracevic at the time commanded a posse foot more senior gang members as foot soldiers, including the notorious Mark Balsillie, who later defected from the Comanchero and recently left the Mongols during a rift in that gang.