Mick Gatto hit by ‘private prosecution’

Jamal Khan launches private prosecution of Mick Gatto in feud over alleged $4m debt.

Mick Gatto, left, and Jamal Khan.

A former nightclub security boss, restaurateur and current fashion designer has launched a private prosecution of underworld figure Mick Gatto amid a deepening feud over an alleged $4m debt.

Jamal Khan has filed a number of private charges against Mr Gatto in the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court for a series of offences he claims the identity has committed against him.

Mr Khan, 61, lodged the private charges with the court in February and the matter is listed for a preliminary hearing later this month. Mr Gatto has declined to comment.

Private prosecutions are extremely rare in Victoria with 39 launched by individuals in the past 13 years. The Office of Public Prosecutions has confirmed to The Australian that the office took over 23 of these prosecutions and in each of these cases the charges were withdrawn or struck out. A number of the other prosecutions failed to proceed as well.

The Australian has chosen not to detail the nature of the private charges Mr Khan has launched against Mr Gatto.

Mr Khan has launched a separate private prosecution of another businessman he is also in dispute with, The Australian has confirmed. This matter is listed for a hearing in next month.

Mr Khan and Mr Gatto were one time associates but have fallen out in the past year amid claims over the alleged $4m debt.

Mick Gatto, centre, stands next to Jamal Khan.

The Pakistan-born businessman told The Australian last year that the Carlton Crew identity owes him about $4m from a more than two decades of deals and business arrangements between the men.

“Four million. Maybe I am forgetting lots, but it’s about four million,” he said.

The Australian has chosen not to detail Mr Khan’s specific allegations against Mr Gatto that he claims resulted in the $4m debt to him and his family in Pakistan.

“Other people, family, are here for their money. They are here to sort him out. They don’t care about any rules or anything,” he says during an interview four months ago. “All of this has to be stopped. Pay my four million or I will come and get it. My family and myself will come and get it,” he said.

For most of the past year the Khan-Gatto feud has been raging via text messages, phone calls and through a stream of social media posts, including videos.

In an interview with The Australian late last year, Mr Gatto launched a scathing attack on Mr Khan, describing him as a “fruitloop”.

“He is a complete fruitloop,” he said.

“All I have ever done is help him. I’ve saved him all his life. And he’s turned feral. He’s threatening to do this, that and the other. The bloke needs help.”