Millionaire Melbourne crime figure’s mysterious money trail

An underworld boss known as the “new Tony Mokbel” is suspected of siphoning money to a notorious overseas group, intelligence reports reveal.

An underworld boss once touted as the “new Tony Mokbel’’ was suspected by police of funding terrorism.

Mohammed Oueida, who is currently in custody in Perth charged with drug offences, emerged as a gangland player in the early 2000s.

Documents seen by the Saturday Herald Sun reveal Victoria Police in 2002 received intelligence which nominated the multi-millionaire from Melbourne’s northern suburbs as belonging to a Hezbollah cell.

It was suspected Oueida was siphoning money to Hezbollah – which means ‘Party of Allah’ – in Lebanon.

Lawyer X Nicola Gobbo and Oueida had a tense relationship, documents reveal.

An intelligence note states: “In 2002, Victoria Police received information that Oueida was a member of a Hezbollah cell located in the Fawkner area. It was alleged this cell primarily organised drug trafficking to generate funds for Hezbollah in Lebanon.’’

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group which conducts terrorist acts worldwide.

Since 1982, it’s modus operandi includes suicide bombings, hijackings, assassinations, weapons smuggling and firing rockets at civilians.

The group has sleeper cells across the globe.

No charges, however, would emerge from the 2002 tip-off although police interest in Oueida gained pace.

By 2007, the shrewd Oueida was emerging as a connected underworld heavyweight who was also deeply religious.

Those in his sphere were told he was a cleric who was training to become a pilot.

Oueida was close to Australian crime boss John Higgs during a period Higgs was operating a freight forwarding business, which had a sideline of getting drug filled containers into and off Melbourne’s dock.

They were in frequent contact in mid-2007 as Higgs was attempting to help import a massive 440 tonne of illicit drug ecstasy into Australia on behalf of a mafia ring.

Oueida was not linked to the importation of the 15 million pills packed in 3000 tomato tins. Higgs, who is believed to have described Oueida as a “Khoja” or a priest, was arrested in 2008 and convicted in 2012 of the “Tomato Tins” conspiracy.

But the quietly spoken Oueida’s quest to become a pilot got tongues wagging.

“How long would it be before alarm bells were ringing,’’ one former acquaintance told the Saturday Herald Sun.

The Ferrari driving Oueida was backed by the muscle of Middle Eastern organised crime families based in Melbourne’s north.

These relationships, particularly with the Kheir and Tiba crime families, would turn sour.

By April, 2011, the bells were ringing loud.

Oueida hates Roberta Williams’ guts, according to police intelligence.

Oueida would be arrested after raids on properties linked to him as he made a dash to Essendon Fields Airport to allegedly escape capture in his plane.

It was suspected Oueida had been tipped off to his imminent arrest by a moll inside the force’s surveillance unit.

Oueida had previously had a knack of finding secret police cameras and obtaining sensitive documents.

His inside information, however, didn’t save him and no one was identified as the moll.

Authorities would seize his sprawling Greenvale property, fast cars and hidden millions stashed in overseas accounts.

Oueida’s nefarious activities had also led to attempts on his life and being kidnapped.

Documents also reveal he had a tense relationship with barrister-turned police informer Nicola Gobbo.

In January 2008, Oueida met with Gobbo despite a year earlier having called her a “dog” – prison slang for informer.

As it happened, Gobbo was a registered police informer at the time.

It appears Oueida was sounding her out.

According to Victoria Police intelligence, Oueida told Gobbo that Higgs spoke highly of her, but that solicitor Zarah Garde-Wilson did not.

He also said Roberta Williams, who had been involved with Oueida, “called her every name under the sun’’ and “hates her guts with a passion”.

In the same month, Carl Williams mouthed the word “dog” at Gobbo during a visit at Barwon Prison.

It appears Williams and Oueida also had a connection.