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| John Ibrahim & pals |
The web newspaper that garners more hits than any other on the planet-over 30 million a month has run a long piece on Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim who regularly graces what passes for 'social' pages in the colonies.
The
Mail Online has delved into Ibrahim's connections to
Australia's Got Talent judge and former member of Irish boy band
Westlife,
Brian McFadden who is engaged to pop princess
Delta Goodrem.
It's all very reminiscent of the Kray Twins and their show-biz connections in London in the 1960s.
Regular
Shuttle readers will be well acquainted with the ever so charming head of the large Ibrahim family who we encounter at all manner of smart parties and product launches. He is an honoured guest at the private pool bar at
John Hemmes Ivy nightclub complex and Ibrahim himself owns shares in around 20 nightclubs in Kings Cross and the Golden Mile, gay Oxford Street. Much in the same way the late
Abe Saffron seemed to own a piece of the action in every nite spot in town.
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| Brian McFadden & Delta Goodrem |
To consolidate business affairs, John also provides an army of security personnel to guard the premises, bouncers and so on although his girlfriend actually has the much coveted security license necessary to operate.
John's business affairs seem to be rather complicated but they have brought him great riches including a huge mansion in Dover Heights that overlooks the Pacific Ocean and Bondi Beach. In his early 40s his contact list is extensive and he regularly travels to Dubai and Las Vegas often meeting with party girl Paris Hilton.
It's recently been disclosed that he made an $150K payment to the NSW Crime Commission although Ibrahim claims it was a "tax debt". Apparently the original sum was $800K and John's lawyers managed to 'negotiate' it down to the smaller amount. The Crime Commission is accomodating like that.
The payment happened in 2005 when Ibrahim was facing court for threatening a witness and perverting the course of justice although all charges were eventually dismissed.
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| Fadi Ibrahim |
Not that John hasn't had his problems. Younger brother
Fadi Ibrahim and his girlfriend were almost assassinated in 2009 by a hail of bullets as they sat in their Lamborghini outside Fadi's mansion. Poor Fadi had part of his stomach removed in hospital and it wasn't his gorgeous fiancee's first appointment with drama either.
Her former fiance Faouzi Abou-Jibal was gunned down in a park in 2009 and thus avoided a pending trial for the stabbing of the Fat Pizza TV series actor George Nassour and his brother, Robin.
Now Fadi's girlfriend Shayda Bastani, has been charged with conspiracy to murder a man alleged to have been the hooded man who shot at the pair in their Lamborghini.
Matters just get more complicated from hereon. John & Fadi's sister has been charged with "recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime" after police found she had, as one does, over $3 million in $50 & $100 notes concealed in the ceiling of her suburban house.. Perhaps a former tenant left it behind.
Older brother Sam Ibrahim is the president of the Nomads Motorcycle Club which the coppers reckon is an organised criminal gang. Sam has been charged with 2 kneecappings and running a cocaine distribution service. Even John's young son Daniel from a previous liaison was charged with affray after an incident on the Gold Coast outside a nightclub.
John featured in the top hit TV series Underbelly in 2009 when it concentrated on crime and police corruption in Kings Cross. He was portrayed as a bodyguard for crime baron George Freeman although people say he was really just a driver for Freeman who ran illegal casinos all over town.
Freeman's 33 Club in Oxford Street was a favourite haunt of then NSW Premier Robin Askin, who like police chief Louis Renault (Claude Rains) in Rick's Bar in Casablanca said he was "shocked, absolutely shocked" when the Opposition claimed in Parliament that Sydney was awash with illegal gambling dens. Like Renault, Askin regularly pocketed his winnings at the 33 Club craps table.
The Shuttle must confess it has form here. As shown in Underbelly, John & Fadi first got their break when they managed to take a controlling share of the Tunnel Nightclub. At a party there for the launch of a new perfume it was the Shuttle that first propelled the 2 brothers on the road to society page stardom when we snapped the two enterprising youngsters with some sexy girls and published the pic in a Sunday newspaper. They've never looked back really !
