A Melbourne restaurateur embroiled in a public feud with underworld figure Mick Gatto has been charged with possessing a trafficable quantity of firearms, after police found two guns at his Beaumaris property.
Former security guard Jamal Mohammad, 61, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday after he was charged by the Viper taskforce with five weapons offences including possession of a firearm and ammunition while a prohibited person.
Jamal Mohammad outside court.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Mohammad, who also uses the name Jamal Khan, did not enter a plea and was granted bail.
Magistrate Brett Sonnet was critical of the decision by police to charge Mohammad on summons.
“How can it be appropriate for an accused person charged with these offences to remain on summons?
“I keep making the same observations, and one day things will change,” Sonnet said.
For the past 18 months, Mohammad has been trading insults and threats with Gatto on social media.
In one exchange, Mohammad posted a TikTok video in which he branded the former Carlton Crew boss 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 50-second video posted in June last year.
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 an SMS on July 20, 2023.
“If you come near my friends or family you will be dealt with you rat ... I hate you with a passion for what you are trying to do.
“You’re not worth going to jail for you dog.”
According to Gatto’s message, the altercation was sparked by a disagreement over a loan he made to Mohammad while he was a manager of the Waterfront restaurant in Port Melbourne.
Their stoush escalated in February when Mohammad launched a private prosecution of the former heavyweight boxer turned industrial mediator.
Mohammad filed 10 charges in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in late February, in which he made a series of explosive, but unsubstantiated, allegations against Gatto, some of which date back 25 years.
The matter remains before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court and is due for a special mention hearing on September 13.
Victoria Police has had no involvement in the charges against Gatto and has not investigated Mohammad’s allegations.
The Age does not suggest that the allegations in relation to the private prosecution are true. It is unclear what evidence Mohammad has to substantiate his allegations, the details of which this masthead has decided not to publish.
Our Breaking News Alert will notify you of significant breaking news when it happens. Get it here.