Australian law enforcer suspected of being mafia informant

One of Australia’s top law enforcers is under investigation amid suspicions he was allegedly secretly working with the mafia and may have compromised some of our biggest crime cases.

One of Australia’s top law enforcers is under investigation, with suspicions he is a mafia informant and over decades may have compromised some of Australia’s most notorious organised crime cases.

News Corp Australia has confirmed the officer has recently resigned after being advised of the high-level investigation into his activities. No charges have been laid.

The allegations have now been handed to the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, a government statutory body tasked with weeding out corruption within the Department of Home Affairs and agencies including the AFP, Australian Border Force and other law enforcement bodies.

ACLEI is looking at dozens of potential criminal cases that may have failed during his tenure as a senior officer working for and with multiple law enforcement bodies across Australia and whether he had a hand in their collapse.

The allegations have now been handed to the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity,

There are strong fears too other senior figures within law enforcement, the judiciary and politics might also have been influenced by the man and his associates. There is a list of names.

News Corp has unsuccessfully attempted to contact him.

ACLEI has confirmed there is an investigation currently under way into alleged systemic corruption issues.

“ACLEI is conducting an investigation into an alleged corruption issue that relates to a former law enforcement staff member’s association with organised crime while they were a member of a law enforcement agency,” a spokesperson told News Corp Australia.

“As a matter of course, once the Integrity Commissioner has provided a report on a completed investigation to the Attorney-General and head of agency, she will decide whether it is in the public interest to publish a report on the ACLEI website.”

It is understood the former officer’s career spans as far back as being involved in elements of the police investigation into the 1989 assassination of AFP assistant commissioner Colin Winchester.

Former Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester.

David Eastman was wrongly convicted on Mr Winchester’s murder.

He may have had a role in the carriage of the case that seven years later would see a public servant David Eastman wrongfully convicted and spend 19 years in jail until a retrial found a miscarriage of justice and questioned the validity of the AFP’s probe.

In a statement on Sunday night, the AFP declared there was no open investigation into the Winchester matter and “no recent” review.

“Our thoughts are always with the Winchester family,” a spokesperson said.

Despite the AFP’s own intelligence and reports on the ‘ndrangheta referencing the Italian Mafia and the Winchester case including reports from Italian counterparts, the spokesperson said there “is no evidence to suggest Italian organised crime was responsible for the death of one of our own”.

As detailed in an exclusive report on Saturday, elements of Italian organised crime were overlooked or not fully pursued by the AFP which instead built a case just around Eastman.

News Corp Australia has learned the former officer’s identity came to light only as recently as 2019 when another law enforcement agency, believed to be ASIO, uncovered apparent close associations to known Italian organised crime figures.

He would openly meet them in bars and restaurants, unaware he was being watched.

Specifically, those figures belong to the ’Ndrangheta criminal syndicate from Calabria, considered one of the most powerful crime groups in the world.

The AFP was informed about the issue and launched an investigation into the numerous criminal cases including murders and drug plots involving some of the biggest names in organised crime whose briefs may have crossed the man’s desk.

Originally published as Australian law enforcer suspected of being mafia informant