Restauranteur Jamal Mohammad’s private prosecution against Mick Gatto ‘fanciful’

The lawyer of underworld identity Mick Gatto says a private prosecution against his client over an alleged $4m debt should be thrown out of court.

Jamal Mohammad, who has filed a private prosecution against Mick Gatto, outside Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Monday. Picture: Miles Proust ,

A private prosecution against Melbourne underworld identity Mick Gatto over an alleged $4m debt is “fanciful” and should be thrown out of court, his lawyer says.

Colourful restaurateur Jamal Mohammad, 61, took the unusual step of launching a private prosecution against Mr Gatto, 68, by filing 10 charges with the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in February which make serious but unsubstantiated claims of criminal conduct.

Private prosecutions, which are rare in Victoria, occur when a victim rather than prosecutors or police initiate criminal proceedings against an alleged offender.

At a preliminary hearing on Monday, Mr Gatto’s lawyer Martin Amad pushed for the charges to be struck out, saying the prosecution was “fanciful” and Mr Mohammad had waged a campaign against his client.

“This prosecution has no foundation in law, this prosecution has no foundation in fact,” he said.

Mick Gatto (L) and Jamal Khan fell out amid a deepening feud over an alleged $4m debt Mr Mohammad claims he is owed. Picture: supplied

“This fanciful prosecution, in our view, will fail.”

He added there was no evidence to support Mr Mohammad’s explosive allegations — some of which date back 25 years and which the Herald Sun has chosen not to detail — and there were procedural issues with his case, such as the failure to have an initial court hearing within 28 days of the charges being laid.

Mr Mohammad, who also goes by the name of Jamal Khan, was once an associate of Mr Gatto but the pair fell out amid a deepening feud over an alleged $4m debt Mr Mohammad claims he is owed.

The former general manager of Port Melbourne restaurant Waterfront previously posted videos on social media labelling the industrial mediator and debt collector a “piece of shit” and a “weak dog”.

Mick Gatto has previously declined to comment on the friction. Picture: Getty Images

On Monday, Mr Mohammad, who represented himself, told the court he made a complaint to police last year but was unhappy with how long their investigation was taking so he launched his own prosecution to “speed up things”.

He said he had 1100 pages of evidence to back up his claims which he would provide to the court.

Magistrate Brett Sonnet said Mr Mohammad had until the end of next month to submit his evidence to the Office of Public Prosecutions which would then decide if it would take over the prosecution or dismiss the charges.

Outside court, Mr Mohammad told the Herald Sun he had no concerns about taking Mr Gatto on.

“I have no worry about it at all,” he said.

“He owes me $4m and I will get it”

Mr Gatto did not appear in court, instead represented by his lawyer.

The case will return to court on June 11.