Restaurateur Jamal Mohammad slapped with charges amid bitter feud with Mick Gatto
Restaurateur Jamal Mohammad has been hit with firearm charges in the middle of an ugly feud with underworld figure Mick Gatto.
Police & Courts
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A colourful restaurateur embroiled in a bitter feud with Melbourne underworld figure Mick Gatto has been charged with firearm offences.
Jamal Mohammad — who launched a private prosecution against Mr Gatto — fronted Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday facing five charges including possessing two or more firearms, an imitation firearm and ammunition.
Firearms were allegedly uncovered during a raid of Mr Mohammad’s Beaumaris home last year, but he was not charged until August 6.
No details about the alleged offending were aired during Thursday’s brief hearing.
Mr Mohammad, 61, who also uses the name Jamal Khan, and Mr Gatto, 69, were once friends but fell out amid a deepening dispute over an alleged $4m debt Mr Mohammad claims he is owed.
In February, Mr Mohammad filed 10 private charges against Mr Gatto, which made serious but unsubstantiated allegations of criminal conduct by the former heavyweight boxer, some of which relate to business dealings and date back 25 years.
Private prosecutions, which are rare in Victoria, occur when a complainant rather than prosecutors or police initiate criminal proceedings against an alleged offender.
At a preliminary hearing Mr Gatto’s lawyers pushed for the charges to be thrown out, claiming the prosecution was “fanciful” and Mr Mohammad was waging a war against their client.
“This prosecution has no foundation in law, this prosecution has no foundation in fact,” lawyer Martin Amad said.
The self-represented Mr Mohammad told the court he made a complaint to police but was unhappy with how long their investigation was taking so he filed his own prosecution to “speed up things”.
He said he had compiled 1100 pages of evidence to back up his allegations against Mr Gatto and another man, Adam Wright, the owner of a Melbourne-based security company.
That evidence has since been forwarded to the Office of Public Prosecutions, which will decide to take carriage of the matter or dismiss the charges.
Last year Mr Mohammad, who used to run Waterfront restaurant in Port Melbourne, posted videos on social media in which he labelled Mr Gatto a “piece of shit” and a “weak dog”.
He previously told the Herald Sun he had no concerns about taking Mr Gatto on.
“I have no worry about it at all,” he said outside court.
“He owes me $4m and I will get it.”
The OPP was granted a four-week adjournment so they could have more time to consider if it would take over the prosecution, with a decision expected on September 13.
Mr Mohammad was granted bail on the firearm charges, with a condition that he not contact any witnesses.
He will return to court to face those charges on November 7.
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