Woman’s ‘flirty’ messages used to lure Mongols bikie into shooting ambush by rival Finks, court told

A woman used a fake social media account to lure a Mongols bikie into an ambush where he was shot by rival Finks members, a court has heard.

A woman created a fake Instagram account to lure a Mongols bikie into a shooting ambush carried out by rival Finks members, a court has heard.

Mongol Rocco Curra was critically injured after he was shot in the head and chest while he sat in a car outside a home in Bulleen in Melbourne’s northeast.

Prosecutor Neill Hutton told a Supreme Court trial on Thursday that Mr Curra was lured to the address by a woman using a fake Instagram account.

The woman allegedly began sending Mr Curra “flirty” messages two days before she invited him to the Bourke St address to have coffee.

A few seconds after he arrived, a stolen silver BMW pulled in front of Mr Curra’s car before two gunmen jumped out and fired up to a dozen rounds through the windscreen.

Prosecutors allege one of the trigger men was senior Finks member Sione Hokafonu while fellow bikie Poiva Sita was behind the wheel.

Mongol Rocco Curra was shot in the head and chest while he sat in a car in Bulleen. Picture: Channel 7

The pair has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder.

Mr Hutton said the August 2019 ambush was in retribution for a shooting three weeks earlier that was allegedly sparked after a Mongols associate had his jumper stolen during a pub brawl.

Mr Hokafonu allegedly told an associate the shooting was “blood for blood”.

Despite his injuries, Mr Curra drove about a block before he crashed into a tree.

He collapsed in a garden before he managed to get up and knock on a door where residents called emergency services.

“He was very lucky to survive,” Mr Hutton said.

Minutes after the shooting, Mr Hutton said the fake Instagram account was deleted.

The court heard the gunmen torched the BMW nearby before they were picked up in a getaway vehicle driven by Mr Sita’s brother Joseph Opapo, who is charged with intentionally causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence.

Mr Hutton said Mr Curra was “randomly set up” by someone who knew he was a Mongol and he had no personal connection to the accused gunmen.

Police have released CCTV of the shooting of Rocco Curra in Bulleen.

The trial earlier heard that in the lead-up to the shooting a group of Finks, including Mr Hokafonu, were watching a televised State of Origin match at The Sporting Globe bar at Fountain Gate shopping centre.

Another man, who was wearing a Mongols jumper, threw a salt shaker at a TV, prompting a confrontation with the Finks.

A brawl ensued after the man headbutted one of the bikies and he was dragged outside. Minutes later, the group returned carrying the man’s jumper which Mr Hutton likened to a “trophy”.

After leaving the bar later that night, Mr Hutton said Mr Hokafonu was shot at 11 times by a Mongols member while waiting at traffic lights, with one round striking his foot.

“The shooting of Rocco Curra, at least on our case, was a revenge attack by the Finks motorcycle club ... for the earlier shooting of Hokafonu,” Mr Hutton said.

The trial continues.