How Sam ‘The Punisher’ Abdulrahim found himself in hitman’s crosshairs

No one will ever know for sure whether Sam Abdulrahim lured a well-connected crime figure to his death in 2016. But some powerful people saw the circumstantial case as strong.

Dangerous enemies bent on vengeance had waited 3046 days for what happened to Sam Abdulrahim in a Preston car park on Tuesday.

No one will ever know for sure whether Abdulrahim set up well-connected crime figure Kadir Ors at Campbellfield Plaza on September 26, 2016.

But some powerful forces — among them exiled tobacco war architect Kazem Hamad — saw their circumstantial case as strong.

Whether they were right or not, Hamad and other big players in Melbourne’s underworld believed Abdulrahim helped put Ors in position to be murdered by gangland wildman George Marrogi that day.

Abdulrahim and another man had been talking to Ors at a bus stop when a Holden Commodore suddenly pulled up metres away.

Marrogi climbed from the car and, as the others scattered, opened fire on Ors.

The wounded drug dealer staggered to the front of an Officeworks store where Marrogi finished him off, a crime for which he is now serving decades in prison.

Kazem Hamad’s brother Maytham was there that day and chased the killer in a Jeep, only abandoning the pursuit when Marrogi pulled over and opened fire on him.

In the aftermath, the Hamads and others came to the conclusion that Abdulrahim played a part in what happened.

It was a belief which would not have been weakened by Supreme Court Judge Paul Coghlan’s comments while sentencing Marrogi.

“Abdulrahim’s evidence at the trial was entirely unsatisfactory and illogical,” Justice Coghlan said.

The scene of the Kadir Ors shooting at Campbellfield Plaza in 2016. Picture: Carmelo Bazzano

Abdulrahim angrily denied the claims to those he knew but it is clear the events at Campbellfield Plaza mark a point where his life came into deep peril.

In 2019, the kickboxer’s parole was cancelled by authorities because of the threat to community safety posed by a number of attempts to murder him.

Organised crime investigators repeatedly warned Abdulrahim his safety was in jeopardy.

It was in this period that he joined the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang.

That ended in 2021 with a dramatic split in the club which saw fellow heavy-hitters Mark Balsillie, Toby Mitchell and Jason Addison depart.

A year later at Fawkner Cemetery, Abdulrahim was shot in a near fatal ambush while sitting in his Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon at the funeral of his cousin.

Two young suspects in the shooting immediately flew to Dubai and are not expected to return any time soon.

Mourners at the scene of the shooting. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Police set up the crime scene on High Street Preston outside the Quest Hotel. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Police talk with family and friends of Abdulrahim. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Forensic police work the scene. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Abdulrahim had been staying at Quest Hotel. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The danger intensified even further in 2023.

Kazem Hamad was released from prison and deported to Iraq where he set about dismantling the previously stable illicit tobacco market with a wave of arsons and extortions.

Abdulrahim was a player in the smoke black market, adding a financial element to the threat posed by the Hamad forces.

Meanwhile, the boxer was trying to maintain a career in the fight game after making a strong recovery from the funeral wounding.

That was at times frustrated by the firebombing sabotage of venues which agreed to host his bouts and after-event gatherings.

Abdulrahim tried to muscle up against the Hamad forces but his access to a seemingly inexhaustible supply of soldiers and the ability to direct them from overseas made it appear a futile battle.

In May last year, there was another bid to kill him.

One part of a hit team set fire to the vehicle of Abdulrahim’s parents in an inner-northern suburb.

Abdulrahim managed to maintain a boxing career throughout the chaos of recent years.

Abdulrahim in a hospital bed after surviving a shooting at Fawkner Cemetery.

Knowing Abdulrahim would react quickly, shooters were waiting when he raced from his family’s Thomastown home to respond.

They blasted 17 shots at him but all missed, allowing Abdulrahim to get to his vehicle and chase the gunmen.

That attack forced Abdulrahim out of the Thomastown house and he had spent months travelling in and out of overseas locations, staying in rental apartments and hotels.

His days dodging the hitman’s trigger ended on Tuesday in a High St, Preston car park.

Police are working to establish who pulled the trigger and, just as importantly, who wanted it done.

There is no doubt Kazem Hamad would have heard quickly what had happened on the other side of world, thanks to an underworld grapevine which spreads information at lightning speed via encrypted apps.

It does not necessarily mean he was responsible, but there were indications Hamad would have been pleased by the development.

“Kaz’s boys are celebrating,” a gangland source said.