Underworld figure Faruk Orman wins up to $1m payout over Nicola Gobbo betrayal

Victoria Police has agreed to pay up to $1 million in compensation to underworld figure Faruk Orman after his murder conviction was overturned in the fallout from the Lawyer X scandal.

The man accused of being the getaway driver in the 2002 execution of gangland figure Victor Peirce has reached a settlement with the State of Victoria – acting on behalf of police – ahead of a civil trial set for next year.

Faruk Orman was freed because the case against him was tainted by Nicola Gobbo’s dirty dealing.Credit: Justin McManus

Orman spent 12 years in jail before being released in 2019 by the Court of Appeal, which found his case had been contaminated by barrister-turned-police-informer Nicola Gobbo, who was working as an agent of police against her own clients.

Gobbo was representing Orman while she was providing information about him to police, as well as encouraging a key supergrass to become a witness against Orman.

The exact value of the compensation payment is unknown, but a recent law introduced by the state government capped any compensation for victims of the Gobbo scandal or fellow lawyer-turned-informer Joseph “Pino” Acquaro at a maximum of $1 million. This does not include legal costs.

A source familiar with the litigation but not authorised to speak publicly said Orman had been seeking about $8 million before the law was passed.

Orman’s legal team and Victoria Police declined to comment.

The settlement will stop a trial in which thousands of never before released documents about the Lawyer X scandal were due to be introduced as evidence.

The documents had been misplaced in a database blunder by law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth which meant they were unavailable to the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants and in other appeals and lawsuits lodged following the revelation that Gobbo was an informer.

Some of the materials allegedly show police repeatedly tried to coerce Orman to “roll over” on his associate Mick Gatto, based on information from Gobbo and senior prison staff, using tactics including targeting his family and placing him in unsanitary conditions in custody, according to the law firm documents.

The tranche also reveals police paid for travel and gifts for the wife of an underworld figure who gave crucial evidence against Orman at his trial in 2009.

The Orman settlement also ends the need for any detectives or officers to be called to testify about their involvement with Gobbo and the murder investigation.

In October, Gobbo’s own compensation lawsuit against the state was heard in the Supreme Court. A decision is yet to be handed down.

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