A construction boss with outlaw motorcycle gang links is suspected of having submitted false bail documents to a magistrate, and a court has heard police believe the only person he is allowed to travel with is the chapter president of a bikie gang.
Ex-CFMEU official Joel Leavitt, 32, faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, a month after being charged with blackmailing a man by demanding $663,000. Leavitt is accused of demanding the money during a January meeting in offices at a Melbourne slaughterhouse.
Defence barrister Christopher Terry said his client needed to travel to Queensland for business, to be able to drive a dump truck across Victoria and to catch Ubers between job sites, with bail conditions currently restricting him to travelling only with his employee Codee Staff.
The court heard Tasmanian police intelligence unearthed this week suggested Staff had recently been promoted to chapter president of the Melbourne City Bandidos, raising the concern of Victorian police.
When documents purporting to show Staff was currently employed at Leavitt’s company, TCB Demolitions, were presented, magistrate Malcolm Thomas queried whether the paperwork had been doctored, because of potential inconsistencies with leave tallies.
“I’m very concerned that these documents may not reflect legitimate payslips, and I say this as someone who once represented a police officer who handed up character references that had been dodgied up by my client,” the magistrate said. “Let’s not pretend presidents of outlaw motorcycle clubs don’t have serious power, I’ve represented them.”
Earlier in the hearing, Detective Senior Constable William Mountney said police had no evidence to suggest Leavitt sought to travel interstate for legitimate business reasons, and opposed any changes to bail.
The court heard Leavitt formed his company in December, currently employed six labourers and five office staff and was permitted to travel with Staff to job sites.
Since Leavitt was bailed in February, Mountney said, he had breached bail twice and been fined for doing so. Police, he said, had also accessed Leavitt’s mobile phone and uncovered encrypted messages sent by handles Fat Max, Dolly and M. Images showed the accused man with bikie associates Jahmahl Pearson and Staff, he told the court.
Mountney said police were concerned about the vehicles Leavitt could access, as the car linked to the alleged blackmail was a long-term rental, and another parked at his home was registered to Pearson.
“Police are required to monitor the application’s bail; we need to know what vehicle he’s travelling in,” Mountney said.
Terry maintained his client ran a legitimate business and needed to drive construction vehicles. He also maintained there was an innocent explanation for the document details causing the magistrate concern.
Terry asked that the application be adjourned until next week while further information was gathered. Leavitt’s case was adjourned until next Wednesday.
A second man, Jared Davis, 42, also faced court accused of being embroiled in the same alleged blackmail, after being extradited from Tasmania on Wednesday. Terry indicated Davis would apply for bail next week and sought to return to Tasmania.
Leavitt’s prosecution is one of a growing list of actions by Victoria Police but comes as this masthead has revealed Australian Federal Police warned that their investigations into the construction industry were being hampered by intimidation of witnesses.
The revelation, in a letter obtained by The Age, has put pressure on Premier Jacinta Allan over her much-repeated insistence that anyone with information about unlawful behaviour should contact the police. On Thursday she said the reports of intimidation were concerning but were a matter for the federal police and federal government.
“Victoria Police are the investigative body that have the powers and the tools and resources to investigate criminal behaviour, and as evidenced by the fact that they, through Operation Hawk, have laid 70 charges, is a demonstration of not only that they have the powers, but they are using them,” she said.
State Opposition Leader Jess Wilson asked Transport Infrastructure Minister Gabrielle Williams and Deputy Premier Ben Carroll in parliament if they supported Allan’s position that a royal commission into CFMEU conduct was unnecessary.
Both argued the government’s existing responses were sufficient to address a scandal now well into its second year.
With Rachel Eddie
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