Mick Gatto’s ‘fruitloop’ spray at rival Jamal Khan

They used to hang out together, but now Mick Gatto and Jamal Khan are at war amid allegations of missing millions and threats.

Mick Gatto, left, and Jamal Khan.

Mick Gatto reckons he’s a “fruitloop”. But Jamal Khan doesn’t care, and says the underworld figure and industrial mediator owes him millions of dollars.

Framed by panoramic views of Port Phillip and Melbourne’s skyscrapers, Khan stands among mannequins in his 14th floor ­penthouse fussing over beads and pearls.

Fondling Turkish and Chinese silk haute couture gowns, a chunky gold chain hangs over his black satin shirt as the flamboyant former restaurateur, ex-nightclub security boss and current fashion and jewellery designer moves around his high-rise Port Melbourne penthouse and its ostentatious golden lamps and mirrors.

Just for a moment, Khan seems to forget about the focus of his rage, Mick Gatto – specifically the $4m he wants – and focuses on his mannequins.

‘‘Some (outfits) will take a few months, some will take a few weeks (to make),’’ he tells The Australian. ‘‘Like this jacket with Swarovski crystals,’’ he says, touching the sleeve of a mannequin, modelling a silver jacket.

‘‘Takes three months (to make) … (it will sell for) 28 to 29 grand, and it cost me eleven thousand. When I launch (a fashion label) then I will be in the market.”

But Khan quickly returns to Gatto and the millions of dollars he claims the Carlton Crew identity owes him. A debt, he says, racked up over 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 tells The Australian.

One moment Pakistan-born Khan, who moved to Melbourne in the late 1990s, reflects on Gatto calmly, the next he’s launching into expletive laden anger.

The Australian has chosen not to detail Khan’s specific allegations against Gatto (all of which are strongly denied by 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.”

Mick Gatto leaves the Melbourne Magistrates Court in 2016. Picture: AAP

For most of this year Khan’s feud with Gatto has been raging via text messages, phone calls and through a stream of social media posts, including videos.

In a rare public statement on Thursday, Gatto launched a stinging attack on Khan.

“He is a complete fruitloop,” Gatto told The Australian.

“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.”

Gatto confirmed the pair had an association through Khan’s restaurant.

“I used to do boxing events and after we finished we used to go back and have an after-party at his venues to help him. I used to do that all the time,” he said.

“I stuck my head in and helped him, reluctantly. I wish I didn’t.

“I’m not interested in speaking to him, not interested in meeting him, not interesting in seeing him. He can keep making as much noise as he likes.”

Some who know Khan have dismissed the claims and abuse directed at Gatto as little more than bluster. But if there was an element of truth in this, Khan’s game turned serious on September 13 when detectives from Victoria Police’s organised crime Viper task force swooped.

Khan, 60, and an associate were arrested at a Beaumaris house and police found two firearms and ammunition. Khan has strongly denied the guns belonged to him. He has not been charged.

In a statement to The Australian, police said:

“Detectives from the Viper task force arrested two men on 13 September as part of an investigation into a report of alleged threats. Both were released pending further inquiries and the investigation remains ongoing.”

The raid appears to have brought Khan’s social media attacks on Gatto to an end. But the feud is far from over and in the past week Khan has taken legal steps to try to claim some of Gatto’s assets.

Khan has failed to provide any documentation or proof to The Australian supporting his claim that Gatto owes him $4m. He says he has proof, including video recordings, and they are being kept in a safe house in Pakistan.

“I said if any violence happens, Australia will remember the rest of their life what violence is all about. I am so sorry I shouldn’t say that. We are a different breed. We are a different breed,” Khan said.

“I am not going to be their victim first. I am going to give my story with evidence. Gentlemen, I have no conviction, I have a strong case, I am a businessman. I have had a lot of businesses; clubs, restaurants, jewellery, fashion. I am a straight, clean guy.”

Asked if he was scared of confronting Gatto, Khan said; “Not at all. Gatto is scared of me at this moment I believe. And if he starts, everyone will know about it.

“I am a man to stand up, I don’t back off. I will never back off.

“This guy (he says, pointing at himself) is not a criminal, he has done businesses. Tell your story to the public, and then take justice into your hand. Which I will. But I am smarter than Carl Williams and Benji. I am not stupid. I have no choice now. I am a man, and man should stand up for his family … I am the man to stand up.”

Khan says he first came into Gatto’s orbit in the late 1990s when he was working in security at Mercury nightclub at Crown casino. As the years rolled on, Khan graduated from being a bouncer to owning and operating cafes, clubs, pubs and restaurants, most recently and prominently, The Waterfront in Port Melbourne. Khan says he was forced to relinquish his prized Waterfront in 2019, and is angry about what he claims was Gatto’s failure to help him keep the restaurant.

Khan is someone who attracts networks of colourful characters and then seems to regularly fall out with them, creating new rivals.

There’s Luckee Kohli, the Mulgrave grog shop owner and purveyor of fine whisky. Khan has been close to both Kohli and his wife Sanjoo, but has fallen out with the couple several times.

They were regulars at the Waterfront restaurant. Before their most recent differences, Khan designed a dress for Sanjoo to wear at her birthday party.

Lovedeep Khakh, left, Jamal Khan and Luckee Kohli promoting a kabaddi tournament in 2019.

The Kohlis also happen to be friends with former premier Daniel Andrews and his wife Cath, and are renowned for boasting in the Indian community about their access to the former premier.

And then there’s the Khakh brothers, Lovedeep and Arshdeep, emerging power brokers in the Melbourne Indian community, are the city’s biggest promoters of the Indian sport of kabaddi, and run smash repair businesses in Campbellfield and Epping.

Khan, Kohli and the Khakh brothers all shared a stage in 2019 to launch the “kabaddi world cup” at Khan’s Waterfront restaurant.

But again, Khan recently had a serious falling out with the Khakh brothers and legal action led to him attending Heidelberg Magistrate’s Court recently.

Lovedeep Khakh is also an emerging figure in the Victorian ALP and has recently recruited members in a branch associated with minister Lily D’Ambrosio.

It was while operating Waterfront that Khan and Gatto rubbed shoulders most often. Gatto would often drop in, sometimes with friends, for long lunches.

“Maybe 15 people coming for lunch (with Gatto). Lobsters, oysters, seafood platters, f---ing meat platters,” he said.

In photos from his Facebook page from this period, Khan and Gatto appear close. They stand shoulder-to-shoulder smiling.

In fact, when The Australian first spoke to Khan about Gatto late last year, he recalled him fondly, saying; “Mr Gatto was a very good regular customer.”

As the feud raged over the past few months there were several attempts to hold peace talks. The Gatto camp wanted to meet Khan in Lygon St. Khan wanted to host the talks on his home turf of Port Melbourne. Neither side was willing to cross the Yarra so the meeting never happened.

“I invite them, they pull out,” Khan said. “They are not coming. Definitely they are not going to come because they don’t like to go to another territory because they don’t feel safe. I invite them again. Man to man. But nobody wants to catch up.”

Asked what happens next, Khan said: “Disaster. We make a disaster. I won’t say much.”