A Williamstown lawyer, charged by Victorian anti-gangland detectives over a cold case investigation into a 1994 Armaguard heist that netted bandits more than $4 million, is in Melbourne Magistrates Court this week for a committal hearing.
The lawyer, John Anile, 56, has a practice at 102 Ferguson Street and is contesting two charges of money laundering and obtaining financial advantage by deception.
It is alleged the offences were committed at various locations in Victoria on or about August 11, 1994, and July 21, 1995.
A summary of evidence alleges Anile laundered money for an organised crime syndicate responsible for armed robberies, murders and other serious crimes, AAP reports.
The deception charge relates to Anile allegedly avoiding stamp duty and associated taxes and fees by under-quoting the sale and purchase price of land.
Police allege Anile bought a vacant block at Williamstown in 1994 for $950,000 and paid $400,000 in cash, which cut the stamp duty.
Money used to buy the land was allegedly stolen on June 22, 1994, when a gang dressed as road workers stopped an Armaguard van at an off-ramp of the Monash Freeway at Richmond.
Police believe the van was followed from the city by a gang member and, once it was halted by a “worker” in overalls with a stop sign, a cohort opened the back door with a skeleton key, then put a gun to a guard’s head. Two more guards in the front seat were removed, then all three were tied by their hands and ordered not to move.
The van was driven to a nearby lane where the guards were handcuffed together and had plastic bags put over their heads before crates holding the money were unloaded.
Five days have been set aside for Anile’s contested committal hearing.
– with The Age
