Latest news with #SamAbdulrahim
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Bombshell twist as fourth victim of Bali gangland hit is linked to SECOND Melbourne underworld murder just months earlier
A fourth person who escaped a gangland hit in Bali that left one man dead has been identified and has links to slain Melbourne gangster Sam 'The Punisher' Abdulrahim. Gunmen shot dead Zivan 'Stipe' Radmanovic, 35, while Sanar Ghanim, 34, was injured but survived the attack believed to be linked to Melbourne's gangland feuds. Radmanovic, who had 175 court appearances to his name, died in front of his wife in the villa toilet, while Ghanim was rushed to Kuta's BIMC Hospital with multiple injuries. Radmanovic and his wife Jazmyn Gourdeas had joined Ghanim in Bali just two days before the execution to celebrate her 30th birthday with her brother Dimitri and sister Daniella. But it can now be revealed Daniella has links to Abdulrahim, who was shot dead in Melbourne in an ambush by an underworld hit squad in January. He was a regular on her social media account, frequently praising her photographs online before his brutal execution as he drove out of an underground car park at the Preston apartment block where he was secretly living. Five months later, she was a key witness to her brother-in-law's execution in Bali. Daniella told Bali Police how she woke up as the gunmen burst into Ghanim's bedroom and she heard an 'explosion'. She said she then heard more gunshots and a window being smashed as the hit squad ran from room to room in the villa before she fled for her life. 'The witness [Daniella] ran out of the villa where she saw two motorcycles [or scooters] parked outside while she heard more gunshots,' added the police officer. '[She ran to] the main road where she asked for help.' By the time bystanders had calmed Daniella down and taken her back to the villa, police were already on the scene. Her sister Jazmyn had also been asleep at the villa when she awoke to the sound of her husband screaming around 12.15am. The mother-of-six cowered behind bedsheets as a man in an orange jacket and an accomplice opened fire on her husband in the bathroom, she told police. Shortly afterwards, she heard further gunshots and then heard Ghanim screaming from a separate room after he was gunned down in his bedroom. With her husband already dead, Ms Gourdeas tried to stem Ghanim's bleeding until emergency services arrived. Ghanim was discharged from hospital in a wheelchair last week, nursing a bandaged leg. Bali authorities say they have all three survivors under close watch. Ghanim is the former partner of Danielle Stephens, the stepdaughter of notorious Australian drug trafficker Carl Williams, who was murdered in Victoria's Barwon jail in 2010. But Ghanim's long-standing association with Melbourne's criminal underworld goes deeper than just family ties. In 2014, he was jailed following the shooting of fellow associate Serkan Kala after a dispute at a gym escalated. He and a co-accused pleaded guilty. On Wednesday, Bali detectives arrested three Australian men Midolmore Pasa Tupou, 37, Darcy Jenson, 27, and Mevlut Coskun, 23, after an intense five-day police manhunt. Jenson was arrested at Jakarta Airport as he tried to get through an e-passport reader to board a flight to Singapore and then on to Cambodia. Tupou and Coskun managed to make it to Cambodia but were identified by Interpol who arrested them in Phnom Penh and flew them back to Indonesia. Detectives said a sledgehammer, believed to have been supplied by Coskun, was used to smash down the door of the villa moments before the alleged attack. Badung Police Chief Arif Batubara said the discarded hammer was discovered by officers at the entrance of the villa and quickly became a key piece of evidence. 'Starting from there, we launched an investigation into the barcode on the hammer's purchase,' he told reporters during a press conference on Saturday. Police found 17 bullet casings and 55 bullet fragments at the scene. It comes after Bali Police revealed on Wednesday how the gang allegedly fled across Indonesia after the shooting, escaping the scene on motorbikes before switching cars twice on an 18-hour, 1200km getaway to Jakarta. Detectives revealed the suspects were first traced through Tupou's distinctive tattoos which were first picked up on CCTV as he bought cigarettes near the villa where the attack unfolded. The tattoos were clearly visible in pictures of Tupou as he was being pushed in a wheelchair through Jakarta Airport after he was deported back to Indonesia. Tupou has a combination of traditional Tongan artwork inked onto his skin and the 676-international telephone dialling code for Tonga in huge numbers down his shin. Detectives are now working with forensic experts as they pore over evidence from the crime scene, including blood samples, the sledgehammer, bullet casings and projectiles, and face coverings. The crime squad is also looking at more CCTV footage, a vehicle and travel history, said a police spokesman. The three can be held without charge for months while police investigate the killing. Once they present their dossier of evidence, the three will be handed over to a prosecutor who will then send them to Bali's notorious Kerobokan Prison. They will then face a court hearing to be formally charged, and kept at Kerobokan throughout their trial until a verdict and possible sentence. They are being investigated for premeditated murder which under Indonesian law can carry the death sentence. The Bali attack comes after exiled Melbourne tobacco overlord Kazem 'Kaz' Hamad is suspected by Australian underworld figures of ordering the hit on Abdulrahim. Abdulrahim reportedly went into hiding in May 2024 after narrowly escaping an ambush outside his northern suburbs home, where gunmen shot at him 17 times. In his last weeks alive, Abdulrahim was said to have become 'something of a ghost' as he moved between Melbourne, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. It's understood Abdulrahim flew into Melbourne the day before his as-yet unsolved murder. Hamad rules his criminal empire from the Middle East with violence and extortion and underworld sources say the ruthless kingpin has the means to order an offshore hit. Abdulrahim's dwindling allies were believed to have gone into hiding themselves after his murder.
News.com.au
29-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Dark underbelly of Aussie gyms exposed
Australia's booming fitness industry is facing a reckoning, as gym owners and industry leaders demand urgent government action to address a surge in dodgy operators and criminal infiltration. Leaders across the sector say the time has come for mandatory national licensing for all gym and fitness operators to safeguard gym-goers and restore trust in the industry. From the Gold Coast to Melbourne, gyms have become targets for criminal elements, with rumours of money laundering, gang involvement, and firebombings linked to bikie gangs and organised crime. Most notably, a Melbourne gym linked to Sam 'The Punisher' Abdulrahim was targeted in an arson attack in October last year, prior to the gangland figure's murder in January. In 2023, a gym in Dandenong was subject to a dramatic arson attack when a car was driven through the front doors, and an accelerant poured throughout the building and set alight. Meanwhile in Sydney, the Fitness First Rockdale club was the scene of the notorious 2018 shooting murder of former bikie boss Mahmoud 'Mick' Hawi. Criminal elements are infiltrating gyms Jenny Singh, a fitness operator on the Gold Coast, is one of many sounding the alarm. 'My concern is that criminals and gangs are now infiltrating the fitness industry and using gyms as a front for money laundering and other activities,' she said. 'We need to get them out and stop them from involvement. The majority of the industry is professional, and introducing a law to ensure that all gyms and fitness centres are run by licensed operators will help lift the industry to a higher level of professionalism and accountability.' Trust and standards must come first Jane Kilkenny, founder of Victoria's Fitness Energy and a respected industry veteran, believes that the industry's easy entry is a magnet for unqualified operators. 'The key factors for a licensing system should include business registration that ensures the industry codes of conduct are being adhered to,' she told 'This must also include registration for all staff involved in the delivery of fitness advice and services.' Ms Kilkenny believes the biggest resistance to a national licensing system would come from those unwilling to meet current standards, but insists the industry's future depends on raising the bar. 'The reasons for this are many, but include cost, transparency and standards,' she said. 'While people might see the fitness industry as a way to make some quick money, it has a very significant role to play in the future health of Australians. It can only really fulfil this potential by raising standards and professionalism.' A booming industry with lax controls Todd Howard, CEO of TBH Group and a major Snap Fitness franchisee, points out that the post-Covid gym boom has compounded this issue, bringing a flood of new entrants – some with little experience or good intentions. He says that while big franchises have strict vetting and compliance, the broader industry remains wide open. Mr Howard believes licensing would ensure basic operational standards, verified staff qualifications, and safety compliance. The foundation already exists AUSactive, the national peak body for the fitness industry, confirms that systems are already in place to support higher industry standards. It operates a Register of Professionals and a National Fitness Industry Code of Practice, outlining best practices, safety protocols, and ethical conduct – but all are voluntary. With the right policy support, AUSactive argues, Australia could 'transform the fitness industry into one of the most professional, consumer-trusted sectors in the health ecosystem,' a spokesperson said. Next steps Industry leaders are now urging the federal government to launch a Senate inquiry and develop licensing laws modelled on those in other industries like aged care and childcare. 'There's never been a more important time to protect the future of the fitness industry's integrity,' said Mr Howard. 'Licensing is not about red tape or barriers. It's about trust and safety for everyone in an equitable environment that benefits not only those heavily invested in the industry but also consumers seeking a quality and consistent product in the market.'
