‘No choice’: court hears Fadi Ibrahim pressured by brothers Michael and John before $800,000 loan

Fadi Ibrahim felt pressure to lend money to his brothers Michael and Kings Cross ‘king’ John before receiving $600k in suspected crime proceeds, a court has heard.

Sydney identity Fadi Ibrahim was under intense pressure to lend money to his brothers Michael and John – the Kings Cross nightclub ‘king’ – before he received $600,000 in suspected proceeds of a crime, a court has heard.

Fadi was arrested alongside Michael in Dubai in August 2017 amid a multi-agency illegal importation sting and extradited to Australia.

Michael was jailed for more than two decades in 2020 over his role in importing illegal drugs and tobacco into Australia, but Fadi’s case has languished in the courts for seven years.

Fadi and Michael are the brothers of Kings Cross nightclub “king” John Ibrahim, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Fadi’s charge is related to a $800,000 loan to Michael in early 2017, which his brother used to purchase tobacco that was subsequently illegally imported into the country.

Fadi Ibrahim has pleaded guilty to possessing suspected proceeds of a crime. Picture: NewsWire

There is no suggestion Fadi knew what his brother would do with the loan, or that he was involved in his illicit tobacco or drug importations.

However, the crown prosecutor David Jordan alleges Fadi would reasonably have suspected his brother’s $600,000 loan repayment had been sourced from criminal activity.

Fadi has pleaded guilty to dealing with money that was reasonably suspected to be proceeds of a crime, but he faced the NSW District Court on Thursday for a hearing to settle the facts before he is sentenced.

Mr Jordan said affidavits tendered to the court showed the 50-year-old had been under pressure from his brothers Michael and John to loan them money after he sold a house.

“When Fadi initially refused to loan them money, they would pressure him by calling him names,” he said.

“His wife said he felt he had no choice but to lend (Michael) money.”

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by John Ibrahim.

The court previously heard Fadi often helped members of his family, who sometimes bullied him for his “small stature”.

Fadi Ibrahim, Michael Ibrahim, Sam Ibrahim and John Ibrahim.

Mr Jordan argued Fadi’s judgement in loaning Michael $800,000 had been clouded by the influence exerted by his brothers, with whom he has a very close bond.

“Fadi always finds it hard to say no to any request from family for assistance,” Fadi’s wife revealed in an affidavit read aloud in court.

The crown prosecutor argued there was a risk Fadi might reoffend because he “remains susceptible to pressure from those brothers … in relation to money”.

He asserted the 50-year-old’s primary occupation was providing short term loans to businesses in the construction industry, which allowed him to loan money to Michael.

“He’s in the business of giving loans, and remains so,” Mr Jordan said.

Fadi’s lawyer Simon Buchen SC rejected the claim, telling the court his client’s business was 20 years old and he had “demonstrated rehabilitation” by not committing any further offences in the past seven years.

Rather than the influence of his brothers, Mr Buchen blamed Fadi’s “compromised mental state” at the time of the repayments on “mind altering” painkillers and a hospital-administered ketamine infusion.

The court heard Fadi had been pressured by his brothers to lend them money. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

The court heard the 50-year-old has struggled with chronic pain since 2009, when he was shot five times while sitting in a Lamborghini outside his Sydney home.

A friend told the court Fadi “was not in his best state of mind when agreeing to lend money to Michael” and he “effectively didn’t turn his mind” to the source of Michael’s repayment.

Mr Buchen asked the court to consider non-custodial sentences for his client, and to take into account the 51 days he spent in custody in Dubai and at Goulburn Supermax.

He pointed to Fadi’s offer to plead guilty to the current offence in 2019 – which was at the time rejected by the prosecution – as evidence of his remorse and contrition.

Fadi ultimately pleaded guilty to possessing suspected proceeds of a crime in 2022, but made an application to reverse his plea in 2023. The application did not come to fruition.

He will be sentenced later this month. Picture: NewsWire

Mr Jordan said Fadi’s attempt to traverse his guilty plea “undoes the contrition” he previously showed, and argued he should not be shown leniency.

The court heard the offence carries a maximum term of three years and a fine of $37,800.

In a letter to the court, Fadi vowed to keep his nose clean in the future.

“I will never again place myself in any situation where there is any doubt about where the money is coming from,” he said.

He will return to court later this month to be sentenced.