Firebombed business owner target of $1 million extortion ploy by bikies
'I've got no idea, but I'm not the owner. We've got four young children, and we need to be left alone,' he said.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said it was 'aware of threats allegedly made against a 49-year-old man from the Bayside area'.
'No report has been made to police,' the police spokeswoman said.
Deicke, who is a half-brother of five-time world champion boxer Lester Ellis, made his fortune from a string of smash repair businesses across Melbourne and Geelong before moving into property development, luxury car hire and hospitality.
He also offers life and business coaching, according to a website that promotes his diverse business interests.
'David Deicke is an embodiment of dedication, innovation, and entrepreneurial success,' the website states. 'His journey, spanning over two decades, showcases a remarkable trajectory from a competitive boxer to a business innovator, and ultimately, a connoisseur of luxury.'
The latest extortion attempt on Deicke is not his first encounter with outlaw motorcycle gangs.
Deicke, who also uses the names David Ellis and David Becks, was stabbed twice by a member of the Finks gang in December 2010, following a dispute over the sale of a Range Rover to an associate of the gang.
At the time, he claimed he was the victim of a botched robbery. However, a Brighton car wash business he owned was then the target of two drive-by shootings before it was destroyed by fire.
'Someone came in here to rob the place, and I attacked him and got stabbed. The last thing I need is this plastered all over the paper,' Deicke told this masthead in April 2011.
In 2014, one of Deicke's smash repairs businesses in Collingwood was the scene of a savage attack by late Comancheros enforcer Hawre Sherwani on another gang member over an alleged debt. Sherwani was murdered in January, after serving four years in prison for the brutal assault.
In November 2023, Deicke was charged by federal police over the importation of 120 kilograms of liquid cocaine found inside 600 wine bottles that arrived from South Africa in 2018.
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