BIKER NEWS -- An undercover cop posing as the boss of a Northbridge karaoke bar has told how he was frisked by Comancheros bikies duri...
BIKER NEWS -- An undercover cop posing as the boss of a Northbridge karaoke bar has told how he was frisked by Comancheros bikies during covertly recorded meetings set up as part of an operation to expose an $10,000-a-week extortion racket.
Covert operative 292, who called himself “Danny” during the operation, yesterday gave evidence in the trial of Ronald Ernest Parr - the state commander of the Comancheros who denies he knew anything of the bid to extort money from the club’s owners.
A closed hearing in WA District Court was told how “Danny” became involved in the undercover operation after a molotov cocktail was thrown into the club by bikie associate Selcuk Kilinc in March last year.
Audio recordings of “Danny” in tense negotiations with Kilinc and another Comanchero associate Ronald Cross were played to the court - where Cross can be heard referring to himself as “the mediator” on behalf of the gang.
And Danny also described how he was asked to unbutton his shirt, patted down and made to empty his pockets by the bikies.
At a meeting the following day, “Danny” handed over $10,000 in cash to the gang as part of the police operation - which swooped in May to carry out coordinated arrests on several gang members and associates.
Prosecutors say that Parr was the mastermind of the extortion, which was demanding $10,000-a-week from the bar before it had even opened its doors.
Several other gang members, including sergeant at arm “Lethal” Les Grantham and Van Hung Phan - also known as Baby Hung - were involved in the long-running attempts to get the club owners to pay for their own protection.
Earlier this week the club owner told how the jury Parr had attended the very first meeting, where he had said “We control Northbridge now” as he demanded she pay.
“100 per cent he was talking to me about the money - he was the main man,” the club owner said.
Parr denies he had any knowledge of the extortion plot. The trial continues.
This article was first published on October 29, 2015, 5:25 am
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