Underworld figure Mick Gatto will no longer face 10 criminal charges brought by a disgruntled ex-associate, with prosecutors signalling the case will be withdrawn.
The unusual private prosecution launched by former security guard Jamal Mohammad, 61, who is also known as Jamal Khan, included allegations Gatto was behind a decades-long campaign of extortion against him.
Mick Gatto (left) and Jamal Mohammad.Credit: Composite Images, The Age
The Office of Public Prosecutions took over the case in September, but according to Gatto’s lawyer, it has now said the case will be discontinued.
Mohammad and Gatto have been locked in a bitter war of words for nearly two years.
Victoria Police has been contacted for comment.
On Monday, Gatto told The Age: “He’s a vexatious litigant. If he wants money, he’s better off getting a job in a call centre.”
In February, Mohammad personally filed the criminal charges, involving blackmail and extortion, in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court based on a dossier in which he made explosive, but unsubstantiated, allegations against Gatto, some of which are more than two decades old.
Mohammad alleges Gatto extorted more than $4 million from him. Gatto denies the claim.
“The charges are now being withdrawn,” Gatto’s lawyer Martin Amad said on Monday.
“It’s going to be listed in court for the official application to take place as soon as possible, but we’ve been notified by the Crown that having taken over the matter, they’re now seeking a date for a special mention in court to have the matters withdrawn.”
Mohammad said he met with a representative of the OPP and was told that Victoria Police would shortly receive a letter referring the matter to them for potential investigation.
“They chose the second option to hand over this to police to properly investigate the matter. The reason they’re withdrawing [the charges] is because of the seriousness and they believe the police can do a better investigation,” he said.
The OPP declined to comment because the matter was still before the courts.
The court documents filed by Mohammad detail how he opened Sub Club nightclub in South Yarra in 2000, and allege that Gatto and his associates collected $2000 cash weekly, between 2000 and 2019, and organised $200,000 worth of family functions, including his daughter’s birthday, but never paid for them.
The documents allege Gatto then pressured Mohammad to sign over the nightclub business and later made him hand over the keys during a meeting at the Old Paper Shop Deli in South Melbourne in March 2004.
In a TikTok video, Mohammad called Gatto a “weak dog”.
“You owe me money, you piece of shit. You didn’t turn up after I invite you, you run away ... I’m looking for you, I’m f---ing looking for you everywhere ... you take money from weak people, now I’ll f---ing take it from you,” Mohammad said in the video posted in June 2023.
Gatto responded by sending a 1000-word SMS to friends and business associates in which he repeatedly referred to Mohammad as “king maggot”.
“You make all these threats and ultimatums. I, Mick Gatto, in my nearly 70 years on this planet, I have never met a lower human being than you,” Gatto said in the text.
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