Man accused of murdering underworld figure Bilal Hamze allegedly owed $270k for alleged killing
Samuel Rokomaqisa, 35, is standing trial accused of the alleged murder of Bilal Hamze and conspiring to murder Bilal's brother, Ibrahem.
He's also accused of the aggravated assault of an elderly man.
The prosecution delivered their opening submissions on Monday afternoon, where Crown prosecutor Kate Ratcliffe alleged Mr Rokomaqisa was involved in an enterprise with others to murder Ibrahem Hamze 'as an act of retaliation' by the Alameddine family — an organised criminal network — over a three-week period between July and August in 2021.
He was also allegedly in the car in which 10 shots were fired at Bilal Hamze in June 2021.
The court was told how Bilal had been dining at the Kid Kyoto restaurant in the heart of Sydney's CBD with a sex worker on the evening of June 17, 2021.
A black Audi with imitation plates was spotted circling the area, with Bilal and the sex worker passing by the car after they left the restaurant.
A total of 10 shots were fired at Bilal after the pair walked behind the car, with CCTV to show he and the sex worker 'running for their lives', Crown prosecutor Kate Ratcliffe told the court.
Dashcam footage from a taxi, shown to the court, appeared to capture a pistol hanging out the front passenger side of the Audi as the events unfolded.
'(The sex worker) screamed for help, she called an ambulance … but she soon hung up, being too distressed to talk,' Ms Ratcliffe told the court.
Bilal later died in hospital, while the stolen car was found burned out in Northwood.
Mr Rokomisqa has entered not guilty pleas to all charges and has denied any involvement in the crimes and to having any links with the Alameddine family.
'That was me, that is what we do': Alleged crim's bragging
Mr Rokomaqisa allegedly showed a man, who can only be known as Witness A, news footage of Bilal's murder in the aftermath.
'Witness A will tell you … that when (Mr Rokomaqisa) showed him this news footage … he said to Witness A 'That was me, that is what we do with the cars',' Ms Ratcliffe said.
'Witness A, I anticipate, will also tell you that the accused … because of what he had done for the Alameddine family, he was accepted by them.'
Ms Ratcliffe argued the words 'that was me' related to Mr Rokomisqa's alleged involvement in Bilal's murder, while the reference to cars related to the use of cars in criminal offences including murder.
The court was told the stolen car was allegedly apart of a criminal scheme across Sydney to affix cars with imitation plates, move the vehicles around between garages, and burn them out when they're done using them.
Mr Rokomisqa had also allegedly played a news clip about Bilal's murder to another witness, telling him he was the driver.
'Witness C recalled the accused bragged about being a good driver and how he got away,' Ms Ratcliffe said.
' … The accused said to him he was on a payroll and was paid to be the driver of hits.'
Mr Rokomisqa was allegedly heard saying he was linked to 'the shooting and s**t' after a TV segment about the news in prison, and that he was in there together with 'all the Alameddine boys', Ms Ratcliffe told the court.
'(I'm) f**king set here lad, they full transferred all the boys…all the Alameddine boys, we're all here together,' Mr Rokomisqa allegedly said while in prison.
He also allegedly said he was 'the king now' while in jail, and that he'd been asked whether he was the one 'who knocked Bilal Hamze'.
'Unexplained wealth'
Mr Rokomisqa's 'unexplained wealth' is also set to be probed during the trial, with bank records to show unexplained transactions over the relevant period.
'The accused was not earning money through legitimate avenues, and any unexplained wealth was (related to) his involvement in criminal activities on behalf of the Alameddine organised crime network,' Ms Ratcliffe told the court.
He had allegedly told his former partner he was owed some $270,000 for the alleged crimes.
'The accused sent her a message (in September) … saying I'm owed $70,000 from just four weeks back, plus another $200,000 for the other thing,' Ms Ratcliffe said.
Ms Ratcliffe submitted the 'thing' referred to Bilal Hamze's murder, while the $70,000 was to do with acts relating to the conspiracy to murder his brother Ibrahem.
The following day, Mr Rokomisqa was allegedly heard saying 'Bro didn't I prove something to everyone with that job in the city?', which the Crown argued was in reference to Bilal's murder.
He had also allegedly told Witness B he was waiting for 'just some c*** to come out' when she asked why he 'kept disappearing' around August 2021.
'The Crown case is that this was a reference to the surveillance of Ibrahem Hamze's unit block, and them waiting in the various cars during their surveillance for Ibrahem Hamze to come out so they could complete the agreement to kill him,' Ms Ratcliffe told the court.
Finally, Mr Rokomisqa is accused of using a gun to threaten an elderly man into giving he and another his car after they got a flat tire during a police chase on August 14, 2021.
He had allegedly been surveilling Ibrahem Hamze's home before a police chase was launched, later telling his former partner he 'had copped a chase and that they had to dump a car that they had stolen from an old person'.
Clareese is a Court Reporter at NewsWire. She previously covered breaking news for the outlet after completing the 2023 NewsCorp cadet program, where she worked at The Australian, news.com.au, The Daily Telegraph, the National News Network and NewsWire. NewsWire
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