Bikie gang uses Canberra safe haven to infiltrate construction industry

A notorious outlaw motorcycle gang is using Canberra as a safe haven to infiltrate the nation’s construction industry while thumbing its nose at corporate regulators and law enforcement agencies.

Members of the ACT chapter of the Finks motorcycle club brazenly posed in front of Parliament House as the Albanese government seeks to weed out the influence of bikies and other organised criminals in the construction sector.

A Finks gathering outside Parliament House in Canberra.

The militant CFMEU was placed in administration after this masthead’s Building Bad investigation last year revealed widespread infiltration by bikies and criminals. Mark Irving, KC, and state authorities have had limited success in cleaning up the industry amid claims of under resourcing of police.

Finks “world president” Ali Bilal, 53, founded labour-hire business Safe Hands Group in 2020 and the company continues to provide workers to prominent building companies in the ACT, where bikie laws are softer, Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

Safe Hands Group has also provided subcontractors for government-funded projects including the current expansion of Canberra’s light-rail network, according to an associate of the gang who refused to speak publicly because of safety concerns.

Ali Bilal, who changed his name by deed poll to Tony Soprano.

“Canberra has become a safe haven for bikies, and the Finks were the first to exploit this. It’s literally happening under the government’s nose, but nothing is being done,” the gang associate told this masthead.

The nation’s capital has become a refuge for many gangs and a popular destination for their annual runs, which unite members from different states and chapters.

The ACT has no anti-association laws, no laws that prevent bikies from wearing gang colours, and no firearm-prohibition orders. Most jurisdictions have at least one, with Victoria, NSW and Queensland having all three.

Several gangs, including the Finks, Hells Angels and the Comancheros, have significantly expanded their presence in Canberra over the past few years.

Bilal, who legally changed his name to Tony Soprano in 2002 before switching back in 2012, has registered at least two suspected “straw directors” to Safe Hands Group, including an associate of the Finks, in documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Safe Hands Group has expanded its business to include traffic management, professional cleaning, office management, and the provision of security services to building sites and public events.

“At Safe Hands Group, we tailor our labour hire solutions to meet the unique needs of every client ... we provide flexible staffing from a single team member to an entire workforce,” the business’ claims on its website.

Bilal was the original director of Safe Hands 002 Pty Ltd in June 2020, before he was replaced by his partner, Chloe Bilal, in December 2021.

Finks associate Branden Jones, 26, then replaced Chloe Bilal in August 2023, and remained director until the company was placed into liquidation in April last year owing almost $894,000 in “outstanding tax lodgements” to the Australian Tax Office.

Credit: Matt Golding

Several images obtained by this masthead reveal Jones wearing Finks merchandise and socialising with patched members of the gang.

The liquidator for Safe Hands 002 Pty Ltd, Jonathon Colbran from RSM, expressed concern about the continued involvement of Bilal and his wife in the business.

“I have discerned that the former directors [Ali and Chloe Bilal] have exerted considerable financial and managerial control over the company until its cessation,” Colbran said in a statutory report to creditors in July last year.

However, Colbran’s investigation into the collapse of the business has been hampered by Jones’ failure to comply with his director’s duties.

“I am yet to receive a completed Report on Company Activities and Property nor receive any books and records from the current director,” said Colbran, who has reported Jones to ASIC over the matter.

Before Safe Hands 002 Pty Ltd was placed into liquidation, another company named Safe Hands Group Pty Ltd was registered in February 2023.

The company lists the director and owner as Jelena Brozinic, who has been employed by Bilal for more than a decade, including at a now-defunct hospitality business called London Burgers.

Branden Jones (bottom left) at a Finks get-together.

This masthead has been told by the Finks gang associate that assets and clients were transferred between the two companies in an alleged case of “phoenixing”. SMS messages appear to confirm Bilal’s involvement in the company.

When asked about the company’s operations, an ASIC spokesman said it was “monitoring the situation”.

Jelena Brozinic, a director and owner of Canberra labour-hire company Safe Hands Group Pty Ltd.

An ATO spokeswoman said it was “unable to comment due to our obligations under taxpayer confidentiality laws”.

According to the ATO website, the annual economic impact of illegal phoenix activity on businesses, employees, and government is estimated to be $4.89 billion. The ASIC website cites an independent report which claims phoenixing costs the government about $1.6 billion in unpaid taxes.

Bilal did not respond to phone calls or an SMS from this masthead. Brozinic and Jones also did not respond to requests for comment.

Bilal has previously denied his involvement with the Finks and Rebels bikie gangs.

However, police officers made submissions in the ACT Supreme Court, the ACT Magistrates’ Court and the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission claiming the 53-year-old was a senior figure in the ACT chapter of the Finks outlaw motorcycle gang.

Detective Sergeant Owen Patterson, from the anti-bikie Taskforce Nemesis, said in court in April that Bilal was previously a leader of the ACT Rebels, which disbanded and became the “All Brothers Crew”, or the Ali Bilal Crew in late 2022 or early 2023.

Patterson told the court that members then eventually “patched over” to the Finks in 2023, and that Bilal was believed to have been appointed “world president” of the gang.

In February last year, a greyhound hearing was provided with an email from NSW Police constable Mitchell Clark, who confirmed officers attended Bilal’s property in Wollogorang, about 60 kilometres north-east of Canberra.

The police were conducting a compliance inspection for a firearm prohibition order served on Bilal, who was not home at the time. But police, according to Clark’s email, were confronted by two other members of the Finks, one of whom was charged with assaulting an officer.

“Police located numerous items of interest in the main dwelling, including what is believed to be performance enhancing drugs and steroids ... A Finks OMCG vest was in the wardrobe of the main bedroom, this is believed to belong to Ali Bilal. Ali Bilal is the president of the Finks OMCG interstate chapter and resides at this address,” Clark said in the email on September 27, 2023.

In 2022, Bilal was sentenced to three months in prison after pleading guilty to five charges relating to using a carriage service to harass or threaten, after his conversations were captured by telephone intercepts.

In one recording played to the ACT Magistrates’ Court, Bilal ordered a woman to arrange a meeting with an unnamed man.

“Get him to meet me. That’s it,” Bilal yelled. “I’m gonna f--- him, his mother, his father. I’m not gonna leave anybody tonight.”

In another conversation, Bilal demanded to know the location of another man.

“We’ll come to the site where you are now, and we’ll deal with you in public in front of everybody to finally make a statement in this town.

“I’m happy to go to jail for it. Let’s not f--- around any more,” the then 50-year-old said in the recording.

Despite being sentenced to prison for behaviour Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker described as “manipulative aggression”, Bilal was able to set up a new company with ASIC in February named Hostile Takeovers Pty Ltd, which lists him as sole director and owner.

In 2012, Bilal was charged with possession of steroids. But because he had changed his name by deed poll in 2002 to Tony Soprano, officers decided to charge both Bilal and Soprano with three counts of steroid possession.

When the matter proceeded to court, Bilal’s lawyer said his client had reverted to his original name, which prompted prosecutors to drop the charges against Soprano. The case against Bilal also collapsed when the prosecution offered no evidence.

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