Fake terror, real fear, and hunt for puppetmaster behind anti-Semitic attacks
All 14 of the alleged offenders behind a streak of anti-Semitic crimes have now been charged after it was revealed an organised crime kingpin directed a cabal of Australia-based criminals to orchestrate a raft of attacks .
All 14 of the alleged offenders arrested over a streak of anti-Semitic crimes have now been charged after it was revealed an organised crime kingpin directed a cabal of Australia-based criminals to orchestrate a raft of attacks now labelled a “fabricated terror plot”.
On Monday, the 14 alleged offenders were arrested after eleven simultaneous police raids, with five people charged from the outset.
By Tuesday morning, all had been charged with a total of 65 alleged offences, though the supposed kingpin behind the scheme is believed to have evaded arrest so far.
The alleged mastermind “pulled the strings” on a spate of Sydney’s anti-Semitic attacks from “afar”, understood to be while based on foreign soil, and had sought to leverage information about an abandoned explosives-laden caravan with police to secure leniency in a separate criminal case.
The charges came after dawn raids by NSW Police and Australian Federal Police, who arrested 14 people in relation to a string of the anti-Semitic vandalism and firebombing attacks – bringing the total number of people arrested under state police’s hate-crimes unit to 29 with a total of 143 charges laid.
More than 250 investigators from NSW Police and the AFP carried out 11 search warrants on Monday.
NSW Premier Chris Minns had first labelled the caravan as a potential “mass-casualty event” and “terrorism”. Police have now called it a “criminal con job” and “fabricated terror plot” in a foiled attempt for criminals to use as a bartering tool to reduce their sentences or drop charges.
It follows a summer of rising anti-Semitism in NSW, but with police now alleging that the most severe cases had their roots in the sophisticated criminal plot.
The plot appears to span as far back as an anti-Semitic vandalism attack in Woollahra in December to the discovery of the explosives-laden caravan in Dural, in northwest Sydney, on January 19.
The nine alleged criminals were aged between 18 and 41, with police set to argue their offences ranged from carrying out arson attacks to preparing the cars that ferried vandals across Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Two men who were already incarcerated -- aged 23 and 37 -- were taken to Riverstone Police Station where they were arrested and charged. The 27-year-old is accused of: “participate criminal group contribute criminal activity, destroy/damage property intend criminal activity of group¸ drive conveyance taken w/o consent of owner, supply prohibited drug - indictable and possess prohibited drug”.
He is alleged to have carried out a vandalism attack in Queens Park on January 11, while the 37-year-old is alleged to have carried out the Maroubra childcare attack -- police also found an unregistered firearm in his storage facility.
“A 31-year-old man was arrested at a Camperdown unit and taken to Newtown Police Station where he was charged with knowingly direct activities of criminal group, five counts of accessory before the fact to malicious damage in company, damage property in company use fire, two counts of destroy property in company use fire and break and enter in company destroy property,” the statement reads.
“Police will allege in court the man was involved in the preparation and staging of motor vehicles and provisioning them with equipment necessary for the commission of the offences.”
He will front Downing Centre Local Court on April 3.
“Two men were arrested on the Central Coast – an 18-year-old from San Remo and a 20-year from Canton Beach – and taken to Wyong Police Station where they were charged with participate criminal group – contribute criminal activity. The younger man was also charged with possess or use a prohibited weapon without permit,” the statement reads.
The pair are alleged to have aided in the Maroubra childcare centre arson attack, causing an estimated $3.4 million in damages and prompting widespread condemnation. They will appear before the Downing Centre Local Court on March 26.
At Wentworth Point, a 26-year-old was arrested for allegedly carrying a “dedicated encrypted criminal communication device”, among other offences, with phones and money seized during the raid of his home. He will face court on April 17 in Burwood.
In Box Hill, a 25-year-old was arrested for his alleged part in the vandalism of Henry Street, Queens Park on January 11.
“Police will allege in court that the man attended, and spray-painted graffiti on motor vehicles and properties, the statement reads. “he was charged with participate criminal group, damage property intend criminal activity of group and being carried in conveyance.
“He appeared in Blacktown Local Court the same day where he was formally refused bail to appear at Waverley Local Court on Tuesday 25 March 2025.”
Finally, two men aged 30 and 40 were arrested in Penhurst and taken to Kogarah police station.
The 40-year-old is accused of carrying out a string of attacks from January 30 on a Marboura property and the neighbouring Mount Sinai College, the Eastgardens Westfield shopping centre and an Eastlakes home.
The 30-year-old faced drug charges and weapon charges after a stun device and steroids were allegedly found at his home.
A 26-year-old woman in Sutherland and taken to Sutherland Police Station was charged for working with other alleged offenders, as well as for drug possession after methylamphetamine and prescription medications were seized during a vehicle search..
While there exist “layers” of criminality – from criminals for hire to those who co-ordinated attacks domestically on the ground – police allege one “known organised crime figure” had been “pulling the strings” from afar.
Careful to “keep their distance” from their scheme, the mastermind “hired alleged local criminals” to carry out the attacks.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson and AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett would not comment on the location of the alleged mastermind but it appeared his whereabouts was “offshore”.
Police said there was no evidence of a “foreign state actor”.
“We believe the person pulling the strings wanted changes to their criminal status but maintained a distance from their scheme and hired alleged local criminals to carry out parts of their plan,” said Ms Barrett, who leads the AFP’s national security operations.
“An AFP operational strategy is in place to take action against this individual and I won’t make any further comment on that.”
The caravan was found packed with Powergel explosives – albeit some years old and with no detonator – and with a list of sites associated with the Jewish community, including one of Sydney’s largest and most high-profile synagogues.
Ms Barrett said “within hours” investigators had determined that it posed no threat, calling the incident a “criminal con job” and “fabricated terror plot”. “Experienced investigators within the joint counter-terrorism team believed that the caravan was part of a fabricated terrorist plot, essentially a criminal con job,” she said in Sydney on Monday. “This was because of the information they already had, how easily the caravan was found and how visible the explosives were in the caravan. Also there was no detonator.
“Today, I can reveal the caravan was never going to cause a mass casualty event but instead was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit.”
Ms Barrett said that while “several people” had “different levels of involvement” with the “fake terrorism plot”, the strategy was clear.
“Organise for someone to buy a caravan; place it with explosives and written material of anti-Semitic nature; leave it in a specific location; and then, once that has happened, inform law enforcement about an impending terror attack against Jewish Australians,” she said.
Exact details of the anti-Semitic incidents under Strike Force Pearl were directed by the one kingpin remained unclear, although all 14 of Monday’s arrests were.
The incidents allegedly directed by the mastermind include, but are not limited to:
• The Dural caravan in January.
• Anti-Semitic graffiti in Kingsford and Randwick on February 2.
• Anti-Semitic graffiti at three locations in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on January 30.
• Two October fire-bombings in Bondi, including on a Jewish kosher deli.
• January anti-Semitic vandalism on the Newtown and South Sydney synagogues.
• Firebombing and vandalism in Woollahra on December 11.
Police allege the attacks were “concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit”, adding that they used the “criminal gig economy” to hire local offenders for cash.
“Regardless of the motivation of those responsible for this fake plot, this has had a chilling effect on the Jewish community,” Ms Barrett said. “This twisted, self-serving criminality has terrorised Jewish Australians.
“What organised crime has done to the Jewish community is reprehensible, and it won’t go without consequence. There was also unwarranted suspicion directed at other communities – and that is also reprehensible.”
Mr Hudson said that while there had been a rise in anti-Semitism since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, there would be “some comfort” to Sydney’s Jewish community knowing that police had closed the net on the criminal enterprise directing some of the state’s most severe incidents.
“There’s some comfort that it’s not numerous people out there (conducting anti-Semitic attacks), but a small group, potentially just one individual, behind all this damage,” he said.
“(But) there’s been an escalation in anti-Semitism over the last 18 months … that’s an ongoing concern to police and (for) the Jewish community.”
Mr Hudson said of those attacks in the lead-up to January’s caravan discovery, the aim had been to create “chaos and angst … and direct police resources”, and leverage some for “personal benefit”.
On X, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke blasted Peter Dutton for “playing into the hands of organised crime” by attempting to “profit” from the incidents.
“If you don’t care about the facts, if you don’t care about inflicting unwarranted fear and blame on our community, you can’t be trusted with national security,” he said of the Opposition Leader.
Mr Minns praised the “dogged” investigations of police after what he called a “summer of hateful, vicious incidents”.
“A huge amount of resources have been thrown at these investigations,” he said. “There is no mistake that these acts have wrought fear and anxiety in our Jewish community and we will not tolerate this, not now, not ever.”
The instigation of AFP’s Operation Kissinger – not made public until Monday – came after the “escalation” of criminality with January’s caravan discovery, given the initial threat it appeared to pose.
Police allege the caravan had been placed there on December 7.
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