GoFundMe removes Hells Angels fundraiser trying to fund legal fees for eight members’ murder trial
GoFundMe has removed a fundraiser set up to fund legal fees for a group of Hells Angels members facing trial for the alleged murder of an innocent Adelaide man.
A GoFundMe page set up to help a group of Hells Angels bikies accused of murder with legal fees has been pulled down for breaching the site’s terms of service.
The account was established by a close associate of the group who last week asked the public for donations for the gang’s North Crew who were “facing some serious legal problems”, The Advertiser reported.
“Hello my dear brothers, as some of you are aware our brothers are facing a some serious legal problems. We are asking for as much support and donations as we can get for our brothers, any little bit helps,” the page read.
“We have raised over $1,000,000 for the boys so far which includes them all selling everything they have and remortgaging theirs and their families homes. We still need to raise another $300,000 to help the boys families with lawyers.
“While we are still working away at any fundraising idea we can think of, we ask our brothers and friends to please help our brothers fight for their freedoms.’’
It was understood the page was set up to raise money for seven members and one associate facing murder charges in the Supreme Court in connection to the murder of panel beater Jason De Ieso.
De Ieso, who police believe was an “innocent bystander” in a feud between the Hells Angels and rival gang Finks, was killed in 2012 at his Pooraka workshop in Adelaide.
Nine men were shown in CCTV footage released by police walking towards the front of the building before the incident, with at least six carrying guns.
A ninth person allegedly associated with the death died in 2014, police said last year.
The trial, due to start in April, is expected to be one of the longest and most expensive in the South Australia’s history.
The GoFundMe page was established last week with the goal to raise $300,000. Before it was removed, it had raised less than $1500.
The men, who were arrested in 2019 following an 18-month covert operation, have reportedly hired more than two dozen lawyers and barristers.
In what’s expected to cost taxpayers more than $4 million, the extensive legal team is predominantly being funded by legal aid.
Two out of the group will fund their own defence, which according to The Advertiser, will cost more than a million dollars each.
The eight men, who have remained in police custody since being arrested, entered a not guilty plea in court earlier this year.
The murder trial is expected to ahead in front of a jury and Justice Trish Kelly.
Two other North Crew members are at the centre of an unrelated investigation into the June 2020 death of Adelaide associate member Kerry Giakoumis in Melbourne.