Former Mokbel associate accused of $1.5m Nissan car scam

One of Tony Mokbel’s former chemical suppliers is facing accusations he was involved in a scam to rip off car giant Nissan more than $1.5m.

Former Tony Mokbel associate turned property developer David Tricarico has been accused of a $1.5m car scam.

One of Tony Mokbel’s former chemical suppliers is embroiled in a big-money corporate stoush with car giant Nissan.

The vehicle maker says it is owed about $1.5m – a sum that equals the sticker price of about 40 of its X-Trail mid-size SUVs – by a business linked to David Tricarico.

Mr Tricarico was jailed for selling precursor chemicals to Mokbel’s sprawling drug empire.

Since his release from prison in 2013, Mr Tricarico has reinvented himself as a property developer involved in multimillion-dollar luxury house and unit projects across Melbourne.

Mr Tricarico and business partner Vincent Orlando set up car rental and ride share business HiRide in late February 2020, and took possession of several Nissan vehicles in April, according to court documents.

Mr Tricarico and Joseph Mansor during a 2007 court appearance.

Mr Tricarico replaced Mr Orlando as HiRide’s sole director about a year later.

Nissan, owed about $1.5m for vehicles provided to HiRide, moved to appoint a liquidator in May 2021.

A subsequent investigation by Hall Chadwick liquidator Sule Arnautovic states that the duo appear to have “improperly sold” the Nissan vehicles “under the guise of operating a ride share business” and then channelled around $1.6m in sale proceeds out of HiRide via a loan to related party companies.

The controversial HiRide loan flowed to property development firm Fiero.

Its sole director is Mr Orlando, while its shareholding is split between Mr Orlando and a company owned by Arcangela Tricarico.

Fiero went on to declare itself insolvent in August.

A separate administrator’s report into its activities shows it went bust having lent about $1.4m to companies linked to Mr Tricarico and Mr Orlando.

Tony Mokbel being led to court in 2011.

A report by insolvency ­experts Cor Cordis on Fiero observes: “It therefore appears that the assets of Nissan were sold by HiRide, with the sale proceeds misappropriated and paid to the company (Fiero), which then used those funds for its business as well as forwarding the funds to various other entities operated by the director and his related parties”.

A complicated legal battle has now broken out with Mr Arnautovic launching Federal Court action against Mr Tricarico and Mr Orlando and a group of their companies.

Mr Arnautovic alleges that the pair broke corporate law by overseeing unfair preference payments and unreasonable director-related transactions.

A defence lodged by Mr ­Tricarico and Mr Orlando ­denies wrongdoing and calls the allegations “ambiguous, embarrassing, frivolous, vexatious … and ought to be struck out”.

The case is scheduled to return to court in April.

Tricarico was in 2007 sentenced to a maximum five years in prison for supplying 5kg of the chemical P2P to a member of “The Company”, an arm of the Mokbel drug business.

P2P is used to produce methamphetamine, the linchpin of the Mokbel empire.

Mr Tricarico, who was educated at prestigious Xavier College, was paid $40,000 for the P2P.

Mokbel is making a legal bid to be released from jail over claims his prosecution was tainted by the Lawyer X scandal.