3 days ago
ATM suppliers atm2go and Next Payments in battle for tobacco crime figure's business, court filings reveal
When Iraqi-born businessman Hasheem Jamal Al Deleymi ramped up an illegal tobacco operation in Queensland, police weren't the only ones taking notice.
Two major private automated teller machine companies, atm2go and Next Payments, also appeared to have clocked the contraband enterprise.
The ATM suppliers went on to became entangled in a turf war to supply their machines to tobacco shops associated with Al Deleymi.
Nine months after Macquarie Group-backed Next Payments supplied their machines, Al Deleymi was stopped in a silver Ford Ranger utility in NSW with $530,000 cash — leading to him facing a NSW Crime Commission investigation over alleged handling of proceeds of crime.
The dealings have been uncovered by an ABC investigation into how private ATMs are fuelling the violent illegal tobacco trade and can be used by criminals to launder money.
The machines, which rake in transaction fees, are being sited inside tobacco shops to enable cash-only transactions for illegal tobacco facilitating tax evasion.
Shop operators can also do deals with suppliers to load the machines with their own cash — potentially laundering proceeds of crime.
ATM suppliers and the shop owners can receive a commission on every transaction.
The ABC has obtained court documents from a legal action sparked by the turf war between the ATM suppliers over Al Deleymi's business.
The documents reveal the normally secret returns generated by ATMs in tobacco shops, including how in some cases such machines do triple the business of a normal ATM.
Atm2go had entered into a deal to supply Al Deleymi with six machines in several south-east Queensland tobacco stores between February 2021 to March 2022, the documents allege.
But by June 2022, the deal appeared to sour, with all six atm2go machines switched off and unbolted.
Atm2go alleged Al Deleymi was then responsible for replacing their machines with eight ATMs from rival operation Next Payments.
In response, atm2go launched legal action against Al Deleymi claiming a breach of a five-year agreement for their machines.
Atm2go alleged it lost tens of thousands of dollars in business and faced costs for removing the machines — an amount totalling around $74,000.
Al Deleymi is alleged to have ignored atm2go's demand to remove Next Payments machines and reinstall theirs.
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To prove how much revenue was lost, atm2go offered up details of how fee deals for private ATMs are structured.
Atm2go stated it charged customers $2.50 for each cash withdrawal and that Al Deleymi would earn a cut of each transaction fee of up to $1.30.
One machine at a Caboolture tobacco store recorded 165 transactions daily throughout May 2022, while a second racked up 155. Together, they reaped daily average fees of $408.79.
This transaction rate dwarfs that of typical Australian ATMs, which record an average of only 38 cash withdrawals a day, according to Reserve Bank of Australia figures.
This high transaction rate came despite the presence of other ATMs nearby.
Al Deleymi did not file any defence in atm2go's lawsuit, and a default judgment was entered against him for almost $64,000.
The documents allege atm2go and Next Payments cut deals with the stores linked to Al Deleymi after May 2021 in Queensland.
At that time, he had been charged with offences in Queensland including conveying of tobacco products and dealing with property worth less than $100,000 suspected of being proceeds of crime.
He was convicted in 2024 and received a two-year good behaviour bond.
Following a 2022 raid on a Bundaberg tobacconist and vape store linked to him, Al Deleymi was also fined $4,000 for offences including unlawful supply of medicines and possession of a weapon.
Efforts to contact him have been unsuccessful.
Just four months after atm2go sued to recover money, Al Deleymi was stopped in in a silver Ford Ranger utility in New South Wales and was allegedly found with $530,000.
The seizure triggered the NSW Crime Commission to freeze funds in bank accounts linked to other tobacco shops tied to Al Deleymi and he faced charges of dealing with the proceeds of crime.
In June, Al Deleymi was found by a Sydney magistrate to have recklessly dealt with the proceeds of crime worth more than $100,000.
He had pleaded not guilty. He is due to be sentenced later this year.
Atm2go did not answer questions about the deals while Next Payments chief executive Tim Wildash declined to answer specific queries relating to Al Deleymi.
Mr Wildash previously said his company cooperated with authorities and was assisting a "live investigation".
He has rejected concerns about money laundering with his company machines but acknowledged issues involving the ATM industry and tobacco stores.
"This issue is bigger than any of us could have imagined three weeks ago," Mr Wildash said.
Al Deleymi, 29, was listed in 2023 court documents as living at a now derelict Morayfield property just north of Brisbane.
The address is also listed as a contact point for 21-year-old Mostafa Al Deleymi who was supplied with Next Payments ATMs, despite facing charges relating to illegal tobacco possession.
After he was caught with illegal tobacco in 2023 in Ingham, Mostafa Al Deleymi went on to establish a company called Replenishatm, which signed deals with Next Payments.
When the ABC visited the 1.8 acre Morayfield property last month, the brick home was empty and derelict with a large skip bin left in the front yard.
Piled up in the skip bin were empty cardboard boxes. Some were labelled with Chinese brands of cigarettes sold in tobacco shops.
