Latest news with #ConnectGlobal
Sydney Morning Herald
28-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
ConnectGlobal: Christian pastor from Andrew O'Keefe rehab arrested
Local police were concerned about the number of bail breaches at the facility. The council had also refused to grant it permission to operate as a group home, although the Land and Environment Court partly overturned the council's decision. Andrew O'Keefe meeting Pastor Ross Pene as he checks into rehab at Connect Global. In early January, an alleged drug importer Hussein Chamas allegedly fled the centre. He was arrested soon after by Australian Federal Police on a $200,000 yacht off the Northern Territory, on his way to freedom in Indonesia. Loading The rehab shared the site with private cabins, often rented to single parents desperate for accommodation amid the region's housing shortage. Between 2017 and 2020, some of the cabins were also used as emergency accommodation for children in state care. Connect Global's board decided in late January to begin winding up the charity in the wake of the Herald's exposé, which prompted an urgent and yet-to-be finalised review by the NSW attorney-general. The charity is in administration and its charity status has also been revoked. Pene, 68, a Harley-riding New Zealand-born pastor, established Connect Global in 2013. He has worked with addicts around Newcastle for decades; the Connect Global website described him as a visionary. Pene had also performed weddings, funerals, christenings and 'spiritual stuff' for bikies and has entertained the Finks and Bandidos for afternoon tea, he told a court last year. The former Fisherman's Village tourist resort in Port Stephens was used as a rehab centre by Connect Global. Connect Global, a registered charity, purported to be heavily Christian; the intake agreement said all church-related activities, particularly the Sunday service, were mandatory. For years, judges have allowed defendants to be sent there despite council's refusal to grant permission, often on the strength of Pene's testimony in court; one described being 'extremely impressed' by the program and the pastor's 'obvious commitment to it'. Loading Pene was arrested at the Swan Bay site, where he was still living, on Wednesday, and taken to Raymond Terrace Police Station. He was charged with five counts of 'do act etc intending' to pervert the course of justice relating to five patients. He pleaded not guilty in Raymond Terrace Local Court on Wednesday afternoon, where he was granted bail. Start the day with a summary of the day's most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
ABC News
28-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Former Hunter rehab director accused of falsifying drug reports for alleged criminals
A former rehab facility director has been granted bail after pleading not guilty to perverting the course of justice by falsifying drug reports for accused criminals. Police arrested Ross Retini Pene, 68, at the Connect Global facility at Swan Bay in the NSW Hunter region on Wednesday. His arrest came after a year-long investigation into the facility by the State Crime Command's Raptor Squad North. Connect Global provided alleged criminals with alcohol and drug addiction rehabilitation services while they were on bail, before the facility closed in February. Raptor Squad officers charged Mr Pene with five counts of perverting the course of justice. He fronted Raymond Terrace Local Court on Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty to all charges. Police facts tendered to the court alleged Mr Pene issued fraudulent reports about the drug use of accused criminals staying at the facility. The accused men were required to be at the facility drug-free as part of their bail conditions. Mr Pene is a Christian pastor, and the founder and former director of Connect Global. In court on Wednesday, Magistrate Gregory Moore granted Mr Pene bail with strict conditions, including that "an acceptable person" put up $20,000 as a surety, with the money to be forfeited if bail conditions were breached. The New Zealand-born Mr Pene must also report to Raymond Terrace Police Station each Monday, Wednesday and Friday and surrender his passport. He cannot contact or go near any prosecution witness and must be of good behaviour. Mr Pene is due back in Raymond Terrace Local Court on June 10.
