BN- Alex Vella, the millionaire boss of Australia's biggest bikie gang, will never return to Australia after the High Court of A...
BN- Alex Vella, the millionaire boss of Australia's biggest bikie gang, will never return to Australia after the High Court of Australia ruled on Friday that he's barred from entering the country.
Vella, 61, had applied for special leave to appeal a decision by the Federal Court of Australia to ban the millionaire businessman and leader of the Rebels gang from returning to Australia from his native Malta.
On Friday, High Court Chief Justice Robert French and Justices Virginia Bell and Stephen Gageler handed down a unanimous decision not to allow Vella leave to appeal.
Vella's Facebook page "Let Alex Vella Return to Australia" said on Friday 'Special leave wasn't granted, which we expected...we are considering our next steps'.
But a High Court spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that the decision was 'the end of the road' for Vella who had exhausted every legal avenue to try and return to Australia.
In April this year the Federal Court ruled unanimously against Alex Vella re-entering the country, after the government cancelled the Rebels bikie gang president's visa while he was visiting Malta last year.
After his visa was cancelled, Vella painted himself as a Nelson Mandela-like figure and sold stubby holders and t-shirts via a Facebook site to fund his legal battle and pay his court costs.
Friday's High Court ruling decision strands Vella in Malta and separates him from 24 close family members in Australia including his wife, sons and an elderly mother, all of whom are Australian citizens.
Known as 'the Maltese Falcon', Vella is the longtime boss of the Rebels, which Federal Court documents obtained by Daily Mail Australia say are involved in drug dealing, money laundering, serious assaults, kidnapping, extortion, firearms offences, threatening law enforcement officers and intimidating court witnesses.
Police identify the Rebels as 'one of Australia's highest-risk criminal threats' and say its exiled president Vella 'continues to to exert significant influence' over the group.
In the Federal court judgement obtained by Daily Mail Australia in April, Mr Vella claimed the federal immigration minister had 'failed to afford him natural justice'.
But documents reveal that the Federal Government is not required to say why it opposed Vella's application for re-entry, other than cite his association with a criminal enterprise.
A court order to pay the Federal Government's costs in his failed challenge could run into tens of thousands of dollars.
Via a website dubbed 'Aussie at Heart', Vella has been selling T-shirts and other items emblazoned with his likeness and the motto 'Bring Him Home' to fund his court challenge.
Asking $25 for a stubby holder, car sticker and key-ring set, Vella used the quote of legendary South African leader Mandela, 'To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity'.
It was under former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison that Vella applied last year to re-enter Australia when Morrison cancelled the Rebels president's visa four days after the veteran biker left Australia for Malta. Peter Dutton took over as minister last December.
The minister's decision relied on detailed intelligence provided by Australian Crime Commission-led Task Force Attero, established in 2012 to 'disrupt, disable and dismantle criminal activities of the Rebels MC - one of Australia's highest risk criminal threats'..
Attero investigators allege that under Vella's leadership the Rebels have engaged in multiple criminal enterprises. It is believed the gang has more than 2000 members across the country.
'The Rebels MC membership in Australia includes a significant number of individuals with criminal convictions,' a court document states.
'Between January 20012 and June 2013, 718 Rebels MC members, nominees and associates were either reported or arrested in relation to 1211 charges for offences ranging from violence related offences (including serious assault, stalking, kidnapping and affray), firearms and weapons offences, drugs offences, and property, street and traffic offences.
'Rebels MC members have used violence in a premeditated manner to discipline Rebels MC members who have been perceived to have breached Rebels MC rules, in disputes with other OMCGs, threaten law enforcement officers, intimidate court witnesses and extort businesses and individuals.'
Federal court documents state that Alex Vella was born in Malta in 1953, emigrated to Australia aged 14 in 1967 and has been president of the Rebels Motorcycle Club since 1973.
He never became an Australian citizen. Mr Vella has a wife, two sons and two stepsons, nine grandchildren, nine siblings and an elderly mother, all of whom are Australian citizens.
The documents said he left Australia for Malta on June 9 last year and on June 12, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection applied to cancel his visa.
Minister Morrison did so the following day on the grounds that Vella did not pass the character test by virtue of his association with a group suspected of criminal conduct.
Mr Vella challenged the visa revocation via his Australian lawyers and the case landed in the Federal Court.
Vella has regularly returned to Malta since he moved to Australia and was crowned light heavyweight boxing champion of his homeland in 1978.
Sometimes referred to as 'the Maltese Falcon', he has four sons, says he donates generously to charities, and is a regular churchgoer. He describes the Rebels as 'family' and a 'brotherhood', not a criminal organisation.
'I have always worked hard and given back to community,' he states on his website. 'I have always voted and paid tax. All I want is to be able to return to my home of 46 years and be reunited with my family.'
The Attero task force sees him somewhat differently, however, according to court documents.
'The Rebels MC presents a high threat to the Australian community,' the court documents state. 'This OMCG has demonstrated an ability to increase its geographical influence, diversify across illicit drug markets and launder illicit profits.
'Alessio Emanuel Vella has been the National President of the Rebels MC since 1973. During this 40 years he has overseen the expansion of the OMCG from three original chapters to the largest OMCG in Australia. He has and continues to exert significant influence over the Rebels MC in Australia.
'Mr Vella acknowledges he is the National President of the Rebels MC. He also acknowledges he is aware that several members of the Rebels MC have been involved in criminal activities.
'The fact that Rebels MC members remain members despite criminal convictions including convictions obtained whilst members of the OMCG contradicts Mr Vella's assertions the Rebels MC does not condone criminal activity by its members, and allow them to remain members.
'The Rebels MC have remained cohesive and disciplined through Mr Vella's strong leadership.'
The Rebels has expanded from Australia to include international chapters in 20 other countries: Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, England, Fiji, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Laos, Lebanon, Malta, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and the USA.
The Attero task force comprises all state and territory police forces as well as the Australian Crime Commission, Australian Federal Police, Customs and Border Protection Service, Australian Tax Office, Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3275266/Banned-forever-Millionaire-bikie-gang-boss-known-Maltese-Falcon-comes-end-road-High-Court-rules-NEVER-return-Australia.html
