AFL bad boy Jake King ‘sick’ of being harassed by police
A furious Jake King has doubled down on his criticism of police, saying he’s “closer to the Pope” than to anyone linked to the EastLink murder of Paul Virgona. It comes after the AFL bad boy-turned-tattoo parlour owner had his business raided again.
Police & Courts
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Former AFL bad boy Jake King has doubled down on his criticism of Victoria Police after his tattoo business was entangled in yesterday’s EastLink murder investigation.
King’s tattoo parlour City of Ink was stormed by police as part of a series of raids targeting the Mongols OMCG, and the people behind the EastLink murder of fruiterer Paul Virgona.
King told Triple M he knew nothing about Mr Virgona’s murder and did not know Aaron Ong and Josh Rider, the two Mongols bikies charged with his murder.
“I don’t know anything about (Paul Virgona’s murder). You guys know more about it then me,” King said.
“I’m closer to the Pope than I am any of this. I don’t know anything about what happened.
“I don’t know anything about the arrests. They are not clients of mine, they have not been tattooed in my shop.
“I don’t know anything whatsoever, so I have no idea why they were knocking down my door. They were there for 15-20 minutes.”
King said he had no idea why the police raided his South Melbourne tattoo parlour.
“I got a million messages yesterday asking, ‘is everything OK,’ and I said to everyone I am 100 per cent OK and I am closer to the Pope than I am to anything that has happened over the last 24 hours,” he said.
“It has nothing to do with me or my tattoo parlour.
“None of them (the police) were talking to me. None of them made me sign documents or anything of the sort.
“When they come in with a warrant — this is what I have learned the couple of times I have had to deal with this — when they come in, you can’t actually say: ‘No, you can’t come in.’
“When I got to the door, there were three police officers standing there waiting for me. They said, ‘we have a warrant’ and they showed me the warrant.
“As I did and have done in the past I said, ‘no worries’ and ‘what is it you are looking for’.
“They said, ‘we can’t tell you’. What’s happened and they are like, ‘we are investigating something’.”
King hinted that the police officers who raided his tattoo parlour were going through the motions.
“They were dotting I’s and crossing T’s. What am I meant to say to that,” he said.
“They are knocking on the door with a bit of paper that says they are allowed to do it.
“I can’t stop them from doing it so all I can do is say do whatever you need to do, dot your I’s and cross the T’s.
“They don’t understand it affects my business. I’m trying to run a business. I have got to go in and explain to my staff police have been there and it is splashed all over the news.”
He also defended his friendship with Mongols bikie Toby Mitchell and said none of his friends had done anything wrong.
“I have not been questioned, I have not been interviewed, I’ve not been charged, I’m not even a suspect, I have nothing to do with any of it whatsoever,” he said.
“I own the shop and (Toby Mitchell) is not a business partner at all.
“This is what people need to understand. That tattoo shop is 100 per cent mine. I am the director and 100 per cent shareholder. Toby is not a business partner.
“Toby is my mate. Toby helps to bring in work. Why would I want to turn my back on my friends who actually help me bring in work?
“I’m a qualified plumber, I have a real estate licence, I’m a business owner. I have friends. I can’t help what any of my friends do in any way, shape or form.
“All of my friends — and let’s make this clear — all of my friends have done nothing wrong.
“There is no fork in the road. I have grown up a certain way and walked a path ever since I was able to walk.”
King also hit out at some of the media coverage he endured.
“They are reading all this crap coming into work and I have to sit there and reassure them it hasn’t got anything to do with any of us,” he said.
“I’m just lucky I have amazing people working for me. We all have friends.
“If you go and get charged and they get off and the papers don’t write that they get off they are still a criminal because that is what the papers said at the start.
“Everyone looks at me and says I’m a criminal who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. I don’t have a conviction.
“I have not been questioned about the stuff that has happened over the last 24 hours. I’m not a suspect.”
Investigators searched the South Melbourne business with a warrant which, among other things, stated it was in relation to firearms.
The former Richmond player on Wednesday sat in his City of Ink tattoo parlour and spoke to police as they searched the premises in connection to the November killing.
“I’m getting raided. It is not my issue. It has got to the point now where it is actually harassment,” King told Triple M.
“I have never been guilty of anything, I don’t have a conviction, I have never been prosecuted in any way, shape or form.
“It is all speculation where because I have friends it is ‘OK he must be doing something wrong’.
“I have never done anything wrong. I always abide by the law.”
TATTOO PARLOUR RAIDED A THIRD TIME
King’s lawyer, John Gdanski of SLF Lawyers, yesterday said King was not a Mongol and that police attention was hurting his business.
Mr Gdanski said it was the third time City of Ink had been raided, and each time nothing was found.
“Jake’s sick of it,” Mr Gdanski said. “It’s getting to the stage of being borderline harassment.
“He is neither a bikie member nor has his parlour anything to do with any other parties allegedly dealing with this investigation.
“He has done nothing wrong and will continue to do nothing wrong or breach any condition of his lease.”
Police did not question King, who bought into the business in 2016 after undertaking a tattooing apprenticeship.
The ex-Tiger is a close mate of Mongols strongman Toby Mitchell, who founded the business.
Mitchell’s flat in Southbank was among 12 properties that police raided at dawn.
It is believed that Mitchell, a former Bandidos enforcer, co-operated with police during the search.
After they left, Mitchell met friends for lunch outside the Clarendon St tattoo parlour.
KING’S BRUSH WITH THE LAW
King has found himself on the wrong side of the law since retiring from AFL in 2014.
In 2017, he was charged with extortion and making threats to kill and inflicting serious injury over a $150,000 debt. He was secretly recorded in Crown’s lobby attempting to strongarm the business partner of Hawthorn player Ty Vickery over the debt.
King met Tony Mokdissi to try to retrieve the cash, said to have been “skimmed” from the Hawthorn East restaurant Fat Monkey, which Mr Mokdissi ran with Vickery.
King lost his temper and threatened to break Mr Mokdissi’s legs if he did not pay the debt. He was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond after pleading guilty.
He avoided conviction on one charge of threatening to inflict serious injury and another of possessing testosterone. Prosecutors withdrew the extortion and threat to kill charges.
City of Ink was fired at in a drive-by shooting on July 14, 2018.
Police allege Comanchero-linked Mustafa Yuksel and Yahya Aboueid sprayed the parlour with bullets before torching a stolen Hyundai hatchback with a revolver inside.
The bikie associates, both aged 25 at the time, were charged with discharging a firearm at premises, using a firearm in a public place, reckless conduct endangering life, reckless conduct endangering persons, using a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence, using an unregistered handgun, theft of a motor vehicle, fraudulently using a registration plate and arson.
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The pair were released on bail despite objections from police.
Last year strict bail conditions imposed on Mustafa Yuksel were relaxed so he could run his kebab business.
His 9pm curfew was extended to 11.30pm on the nights he worked.
Mr Yuksel and Mr Aboueid will stand trial in the County Court in August this year.