Parking inspectors foiled alleged murder plot: court
Andre Kallita was almost gunned down outside the Day Street police station in Sydney's CBD in an alleged December 2023 plot by associates of Bilal Haouchar's Lebanon-based crime syndicate.
Bilal's younger brother Omar Haouchar, 32, has been charged over the attempted murder plot.
He's been accused of using the handle 'Invisible' on the encrypted messaging app Threema to organise the plot with several others.
In early 2023, a dispute arose between the Haouchar crime network and the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang over a drug debt, documents filed with the NSW Supreme Court reveal.
Kallita was allegedly a member of the Comancheros and was a close associate of cocaine kingpin Alen Moridian, who himself was gunned down in a Bondi Junction car park in June 2023, the documents say.
Various alleged members of the Kallita murder plot have been accused of participating in the Moridian murder.
Prosecutors claim Omar Haouchar was part of a conspiracy to murder Kallita, and there was enough circumstantial evidence to prove he used the Threema handle 'Invisible'.
Defence lawyers have rejected the allegations at previous bail hearings, saying there was no link between their client and the Threema username.
A chat titled 'Urgent' discussed staking out the police station, having a car with two "hitters" waiting nearby and possible use of a drone.
Invisible eventually called off the plan, police documents reveal.
"Boys I'm gona (sic) shut this group down as know one (sic) is interested clearly," he wrote on December 9.
The plot was then taken up by others - without Omar Haouchar's involvement - including two men going by the usernames Stone Cold and NightWing, court documents reveal.
Under the alleged plan, a burner phone was sourced and three stolen getaway cars were parked across Sydney - all of which would have been destroyed by fire afterwards.
"Do not panic or rush anything or it will turn into a mess," NightWing wrote the day before the alleged attempted murder.
"Make sure target is down and dead."
One of the "spotters" in the stake-out car was offered $80,000 while the actual shooter could have earned up to $800,000, police allege.
While everyone was in place outside Day Street police station, the plan was called off after parking rangers spotted one of the getaway cars parked illegally nearby.
"There's people around hit car and ticket guy," NightWing wrote.
"Bros said wrap it up. Come again Wednesday. Safety first"
A second murder attempt was planned, however the shooter was arrested by police before that could occur.
Omar Haouchar was arrested over the alleged plot in January.
The 32-year-old has not yet entered a plea to the single charge of conspiracy to murder.
At a bail hearing in June, he proposed putting up a cemetery as security to support his release into the community.
A decision over whether he will be released has not yet been made.
Kallita is believed to be overseas, court documents reveal.
The Haouchar syndicate has been tied to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency transactions and various firearm, drug, tobacco and money-laundering offences, police said previously.
Bilal Haouchar is in a Lebanese prison serving an eight-year sentence, according to court documents.
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West Australian
3 hours ago
- West Australian
Qantas hack: Aus intelligence agencies helping airline in data breach probe likely linked to Scattered Spider
Six million Qantas customers are at risk of having their personal information released onto the dark web as the airline confirmed that it had been the victim of a major cyber attack. A Manilla-based call centre used by Qantas was compromised in a so-called vishing attack, where cybercriminals pose as trusted entities to trick victims into releasing sensitive data such as login credentials. Qantas said it detected unusual activity on a the third party platform used by its airline contact centre on Monday, and took immediate steps to contain the platform, but confirmed customers' names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers had been stolen. Fortunately, Qantas says, credit card details, personal financial information and passport details are not held on that system. Nor were frequent flyer accounts, passwords and PIN numbers. The company said there was no impact to operations or the safety of the airline. Qantas said it was investigating the attack and has notified the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. The Australian Federal Police had also been notified. 'We sincerely apologise to our customers and we recognise the uncertainty this will cause. Our customers trust us with their personal information and we take that responsibility seriously,' Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said. 'We are contacting our customers today and our focus is on providing them with the necessary support.' Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security Tony Burke said the Governments National Cyber Security Coordinator and the Australian Signals Directorate are working closely with Qantas and he also confirmed that the airline was fully cooperating with Government agencies. 'We've worked through the different communication they're giving to people. I've been checking that they've been keeping closely engaged with both the Signals Directorate and the Cybersecurity Coordinator, and they have been, and they've been giving access, and doing whatever's asked,' Mr Burke told the ABC. 'The stage that we're at right now is making sure that a vulnerability was exposed isn't enlarged.' Mr Burke warned customers to be on the lookout for any suspicious communication from Qantas. 'Because emails and phone numbers have been compromised, if anyone gets a cold call from Qantas, hang up. If you're going to talk to Qantas on the phone, use the published number and you make the call. 'If you get an email that is asking you to click through on a link in any way, don't respond to it. The only way to deal with them digitally is to work through the Qantas app. The nature of these criminals is, once they've got the information, they either sell it, or they use it, or they try to ransom it, so people just need to be on guard that whenever you get these cold calls, hang up call the numbers that you know.' Qantas frequent flyers were also warned to ensure their four digit pin used to login to the company's website should be updated immediately if it consisted of common pin numbers like 1111, or 1234. Matt Warren, Director of the RMIT University Centre for Cyber Security Research & Innovation at RMIT University said the data would likely be on-sold to other criminal gangs who would use the information to try to hack into other accounts or commit identify fraud. He said it was critical that people not only esnured they had unique passwords for each service they log in to, but also activate multi-factor authentication, which requires users to verify their identity using two or more different factors, such as a password and a code sent to their phone. Qantas said while investigations were ongoing it could not confirm whether Manila-based call centre was the same provider that was the victim of a similar attack that affected customers of North America's Hawaiian Airlines and WestJet in the last two weeks. According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation the perpetrator was likely to be the UK and USA-based cybercriminal group Scattered Spider. The group is a loose affiliate of mostly English speaking hackers who talk their way into accessing corporate computer systems, then onsell the login information to outside cybercrimimals who then install ransomware and try to extort payment. On 28 June, the FBI warned the gang was targeting the airline sector. 'They target large corporations and their third-party IT providers, which means anyone in the airline ecosystem, including trusted vendors and contractors, could be at risk. Once inside, Scattered Spider actors steal sensitive data for extortion and often deploy ransomware,' the FBI wrote on X. 'They use social engineering techniques, often impersonating employees or contractors to deceive IT help desks into granting access.' While details had not been released Mr Warren said third party providers were a particularly attractive entrance point for cybercriminals. 'There has been problems of security in call centres before, where insiders have taken data and sold it on for financial gain. That's the problem of the insider threat, you don't actually have to breach the security mechanisms of a company. You just have to compromise one person who is able to access that information,' he said. Mr Warren said many Australian companies who have outsourced parts of their operations to third parties would be looking to their processes. Amid rising customer concerns, firms 'review all of their relationships with third party organisations in terms of ensuring that they have appropriate security.' Mr Burke said companies would not be able to pass the buck on cybersecurity to the outsourced company. 'I've said this to Qantas. I've said this to all the businesses outsourcing. You can't outsource your cybersecurity obligations when you start using third party companies.'
The Advertiser
5 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Parking rangers foiled alleged murder plot: prosecutors
A close associate of a slain drug kingpin avoided being killed in a police station hit job because parking inspectors spotted an illegally parked getaway car, prosecutors claim. Andre Kallita was almost gunned down outside the Day Street police station in Sydney's CBD in an alleged December 2023 plot by associates of Bilal Haouchar's Lebanon-based crime syndicate. Bilal's younger brother Omar Haouchar, 32, has been charged over the attempted murder plot. He's been accused of using the handle 'Invisible' on the encrypted messaging app Threema to organise the plot with several others. In early 2023, a dispute arose between the Haouchar crime network and the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang over a drug debt, documents filed with the NSW Supreme Court reveal. Kallita was allegedly a member of the Comancheros and was a close associate of cocaine kingpin Alen Moridian, who himself was gunned down in a Bondi Junction car park in June 2023, the documents say. Various alleged members of the Kallita murder plot have been accused of participating in the Moridian murder. Prosecutors claim Omar Haouchar was part of a conspiracy to murder Kallita, and there was enough circumstantial evidence to prove he used the Threema handle 'Invisible'. Defence lawyers have rejected the allegations at previous bail hearings, saying there was no link between their client and the Threema username. A chat titled 'Urgent' discussed staking out the police station, having a car with two "hitters" waiting nearby and possible use of a drone. Invisible eventually called off the plan, police documents reveal. "Boys I'm gona (sic) shut this group down as know one (sic) is interested clearly," he wrote on December 9. The plot was then taken up by others - without Omar Haouchar's involvement - including two men going by the usernames Stone Cold and NightWing, court documents reveal. Under the alleged plan, a burner phone was sourced and three stolen getaway cars were parked across Sydney - all of which would have been destroyed by fire afterwards. "Do not panic or rush anything or it will turn into a mess," NightWing wrote the day before the alleged attempted murder. "Make sure target is down and dead." One of the "spotters" in the stake-out car was offered $80,000 while the actual shooter could have earned up to $800,000, police allege. While everyone was in place outside Day Street police station, the plan was called off after parking rangers spotted one of the getaway cars parked illegally nearby. "There's people around hit car and ticket guy," NightWing wrote. "Bros said wrap it up. Come again Wednesday. Safety first" A second murder attempt was planned, however the shooter was arrested by police before that could occur. Omar Haouchar was arrested over the alleged plot in January. The 32-year-old has not yet entered a plea to the single charge of conspiracy to murder. At a bail hearing in June, he proposed putting up a cemetery as security to support his release into the community. A decision over whether he will be released has not yet been made. Kallita is believed to be overseas, court documents reveal. The Haouchar syndicate has been tied to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency transactions and various firearm, drug, tobacco and money-laundering offences, police said previously. Bilal Haouchar is in a Lebanese prison serving an eight-year sentence, according to court documents. A close associate of a slain drug kingpin avoided being killed in a police station hit job because parking inspectors spotted an illegally parked getaway car, prosecutors claim. Andre Kallita was almost gunned down outside the Day Street police station in Sydney's CBD in an alleged December 2023 plot by associates of Bilal Haouchar's Lebanon-based crime syndicate. Bilal's younger brother Omar Haouchar, 32, has been charged over the attempted murder plot. He's been accused of using the handle 'Invisible' on the encrypted messaging app Threema to organise the plot with several others. In early 2023, a dispute arose between the Haouchar crime network and the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang over a drug debt, documents filed with the NSW Supreme Court reveal. Kallita was allegedly a member of the Comancheros and was a close associate of cocaine kingpin Alen Moridian, who himself was gunned down in a Bondi Junction car park in June 2023, the documents say. Various alleged members of the Kallita murder plot have been accused of participating in the Moridian murder. Prosecutors claim Omar Haouchar was part of a conspiracy to murder Kallita, and there was enough circumstantial evidence to prove he used the Threema handle 'Invisible'. Defence lawyers have rejected the allegations at previous bail hearings, saying there was no link between their client and the Threema username. A chat titled 'Urgent' discussed staking out the police station, having a car with two "hitters" waiting nearby and possible use of a drone. Invisible eventually called off the plan, police documents reveal. "Boys I'm gona (sic) shut this group down as know one (sic) is interested clearly," he wrote on December 9. The plot was then taken up by others - without Omar Haouchar's involvement - including two men going by the usernames Stone Cold and NightWing, court documents reveal. Under the alleged plan, a burner phone was sourced and three stolen getaway cars were parked across Sydney - all of which would have been destroyed by fire afterwards. "Do not panic or rush anything or it will turn into a mess," NightWing wrote the day before the alleged attempted murder. "Make sure target is down and dead." One of the "spotters" in the stake-out car was offered $80,000 while the actual shooter could have earned up to $800,000, police allege. While everyone was in place outside Day Street police station, the plan was called off after parking rangers spotted one of the getaway cars parked illegally nearby. "There's people around hit car and ticket guy," NightWing wrote. "Bros said wrap it up. Come again Wednesday. Safety first" A second murder attempt was planned, however the shooter was arrested by police before that could occur. Omar Haouchar was arrested over the alleged plot in January. The 32-year-old has not yet entered a plea to the single charge of conspiracy to murder. At a bail hearing in June, he proposed putting up a cemetery as security to support his release into the community. A decision over whether he will be released has not yet been made. Kallita is believed to be overseas, court documents reveal. The Haouchar syndicate has been tied to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency transactions and various firearm, drug, tobacco and money-laundering offences, police said previously. Bilal Haouchar is in a Lebanese prison serving an eight-year sentence, according to court documents. A close associate of a slain drug kingpin avoided being killed in a police station hit job because parking inspectors spotted an illegally parked getaway car, prosecutors claim. Andre Kallita was almost gunned down outside the Day Street police station in Sydney's CBD in an alleged December 2023 plot by associates of Bilal Haouchar's Lebanon-based crime syndicate. Bilal's younger brother Omar Haouchar, 32, has been charged over the attempted murder plot. He's been accused of using the handle 'Invisible' on the encrypted messaging app Threema to organise the plot with several others. In early 2023, a dispute arose between the Haouchar crime network and the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang over a drug debt, documents filed with the NSW Supreme Court reveal. Kallita was allegedly a member of the Comancheros and was a close associate of cocaine kingpin Alen Moridian, who himself was gunned down in a Bondi Junction car park in June 2023, the documents say. Various alleged members of the Kallita murder plot have been accused of participating in the Moridian murder. Prosecutors claim Omar Haouchar was part of a conspiracy to murder Kallita, and there was enough circumstantial evidence to prove he used the Threema handle 'Invisible'. Defence lawyers have rejected the allegations at previous bail hearings, saying there was no link between their client and the Threema username. A chat titled 'Urgent' discussed staking out the police station, having a car with two "hitters" waiting nearby and possible use of a drone. Invisible eventually called off the plan, police documents reveal. "Boys I'm gona (sic) shut this group down as know one (sic) is interested clearly," he wrote on December 9. The plot was then taken up by others - without Omar Haouchar's involvement - including two men going by the usernames Stone Cold and NightWing, court documents reveal. Under the alleged plan, a burner phone was sourced and three stolen getaway cars were parked across Sydney - all of which would have been destroyed by fire afterwards. "Do not panic or rush anything or it will turn into a mess," NightWing wrote the day before the alleged attempted murder. "Make sure target is down and dead." One of the "spotters" in the stake-out car was offered $80,000 while the actual shooter could have earned up to $800,000, police allege. While everyone was in place outside Day Street police station, the plan was called off after parking rangers spotted one of the getaway cars parked illegally nearby. "There's people around hit car and ticket guy," NightWing wrote. "Bros said wrap it up. Come again Wednesday. Safety first" A second murder attempt was planned, however the shooter was arrested by police before that could occur. Omar Haouchar was arrested over the alleged plot in January. The 32-year-old has not yet entered a plea to the single charge of conspiracy to murder. At a bail hearing in June, he proposed putting up a cemetery as security to support his release into the community. A decision over whether he will be released has not yet been made. Kallita is believed to be overseas, court documents reveal. The Haouchar syndicate has been tied to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency transactions and various firearm, drug, tobacco and money-laundering offences, police said previously. Bilal Haouchar is in a Lebanese prison serving an eight-year sentence, according to court documents. A close associate of a slain drug kingpin avoided being killed in a police station hit job because parking inspectors spotted an illegally parked getaway car, prosecutors claim. Andre Kallita was almost gunned down outside the Day Street police station in Sydney's CBD in an alleged December 2023 plot by associates of Bilal Haouchar's Lebanon-based crime syndicate. Bilal's younger brother Omar Haouchar, 32, has been charged over the attempted murder plot. He's been accused of using the handle 'Invisible' on the encrypted messaging app Threema to organise the plot with several others. In early 2023, a dispute arose between the Haouchar crime network and the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang over a drug debt, documents filed with the NSW Supreme Court reveal. Kallita was allegedly a member of the Comancheros and was a close associate of cocaine kingpin Alen Moridian, who himself was gunned down in a Bondi Junction car park in June 2023, the documents say. Various alleged members of the Kallita murder plot have been accused of participating in the Moridian murder. Prosecutors claim Omar Haouchar was part of a conspiracy to murder Kallita, and there was enough circumstantial evidence to prove he used the Threema handle 'Invisible'. Defence lawyers have rejected the allegations at previous bail hearings, saying there was no link between their client and the Threema username. A chat titled 'Urgent' discussed staking out the police station, having a car with two "hitters" waiting nearby and possible use of a drone. Invisible eventually called off the plan, police documents reveal. "Boys I'm gona (sic) shut this group down as know one (sic) is interested clearly," he wrote on December 9. The plot was then taken up by others - without Omar Haouchar's involvement - including two men going by the usernames Stone Cold and NightWing, court documents reveal. Under the alleged plan, a burner phone was sourced and three stolen getaway cars were parked across Sydney - all of which would have been destroyed by fire afterwards. "Do not panic or rush anything or it will turn into a mess," NightWing wrote the day before the alleged attempted murder. "Make sure target is down and dead." One of the "spotters" in the stake-out car was offered $80,000 while the actual shooter could have earned up to $800,000, police allege. While everyone was in place outside Day Street police station, the plan was called off after parking rangers spotted one of the getaway cars parked illegally nearby. "There's people around hit car and ticket guy," NightWing wrote. "Bros said wrap it up. Come again Wednesday. Safety first" A second murder attempt was planned, however the shooter was arrested by police before that could occur. Omar Haouchar was arrested over the alleged plot in January. The 32-year-old has not yet entered a plea to the single charge of conspiracy to murder. At a bail hearing in June, he proposed putting up a cemetery as security to support his release into the community. A decision over whether he will be released has not yet been made. Kallita is believed to be overseas, court documents reveal. The Haouchar syndicate has been tied to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency transactions and various firearm, drug, tobacco and money-laundering offences, police said previously. Bilal Haouchar is in a Lebanese prison serving an eight-year sentence, according to court documents.
The Age
6 hours ago
- The Age
Australian crypto king bit off part of attacker's finger during botched kidnapping, court told
London: Australian crypto billionaire Tim Heath bit off part of an attacker's finger while fighting off a kidnapping attempt outside his apartment in Tallinn last year, an Estonian court has heard. Heath, 47, was ambushed in the stairwell of his apartment in Tallinn's Old Town on the night of July 29 last year. The assault was part of an alleged plot by an organised group to abduct the entrepreneur and extort cryptocurrency. The Tallinn-based Eesti Ekspress reported that one of the men, 49-year-old Azerbaijani national Allahverdi Allahverdiyev, allegedly placed his hand over Heath's mouth to silence him during the attack. Heath responded by biting through his index finger. The court heard that DNA evidence later confirmed part of the bloodied severed finger was found on the street near St Nicholas Church, about 100 metres from the scene. Heath also lost a tooth in the attack but managed to resist long enough to prevent the group from forcing him into a waiting van. Allahverdiyev, a former Greco-Roman wrestler and boxer, told the court he was promised €100,000 ($180,000) to carry out the kidnapping. He admitted to being part of the attack but claimed he had second thoughts once it began, the paper reported. 'I did it,' he said in court. 'I pretended to do something. It lasted about 30 seconds.' He also testified that he told the others to abort the plan, shouting: 'Let's go! Let's leave!' Kidnappings and physical attacks targeting cryptocurrency industry figures have surged in the past 18 months. At least 231 reported incidents have involved digital asset holders and nearly one-third of those have occurred since the beginning of last year, according to industry experts. Eesti Ekspress reported that since the attempted abduction, Heath has spent more than €2.7 million on private security, changed homes and rarely appears in public without protection. His legal team is seeking restitution of those costs from the accused, despite the low likelihood of recovery.
