Latest news with #RayFrangieh
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Convicted coke dealer fires back at the gunmen who shot up his home with a furious message for the wannabe gangsters
Convicted cocaine dealer Joe Frangieh has hit back at the 'cowards' who sprayed his mother's home with bullets in a drive-by shooting. Police were called to the matriarch's home on Davidson Avenue in Concord in Sydney 's inner-west shortly after 1am on June 256, amid reports 'five or six shots' had been fired. The home belongs to Hasna Frangieh, mother of Joe and Ray Frangieh, who were jailed for cocaine supply in 2002. It was bought by Ms Frangieh for $1.5million in 2015. Joe Frangieh told Daily Mail Australia he was overseas at the time of the shooting and had 'no idea' if it was specifically targeted at his family home. 'I think only cowards shoot houses - why is the point (sic),' he said. 'What if my mother or kids were hit. How does that make you strong. 'It's [a] bunch of cowards and the Australian Police would have to be the most embarrassing force on the planet - they should step up and let the streets sort themselves out or step away.' Police were called to the property on Davidson Avenue in Concord in Sydney's inner-west shortly after 1am on Thursday (pictured) Mr Frangieh added: 'And as for these idiots that are just doing these hits not knowing what they're doing, I feel sorry for them, as if they knew the consequences of their actions they would think twice. 'And that's [where] the problem lies, young idiots looking to make a quick earn ending up in jail for a very long time all for a little bit of money.' A short time after responding to the shooting, emergency services were called to nearby car fire at Stuart Street in Burwood. A stolen white 2021 Genesis was found rolling down the street while on fire. It's understood the three occupants failed to put the handbrake on as they fled the scene in another white vehicle. The Frangieh family has been targeted several times in the past. In September 2003, shortly after the Frangieh brothers had been released from prison, their home in Bristol Street, Merrylands, was sprayed a dozen bullets. Three months later, Mr Frangieh's father Sayed was fatally shot in the chest during another attack on the home. It was later revealed the intended target of the shooting was Ray Frangieh. Ray had become embroiled in a dispute with another crime figure, Ken Tan, who had reportedly failed to pay him $50,000 after buying his luxury BMW. Earlier that day, Ray had run Tan off the road in an altercation over the unpaid sum. Tan was jailed for manslaughter after it emerged he had sent associates to carry out the botched hit.
The Age
3 days ago
- The Age
‘Five shots fired': Lucky escape for mother of cocaine dealers in third drive-by shooting
On the evening of December 7, 2003, Hasna's daughter, Elizabeth, and other members of the family had just arrived home when a man wearing a stocking over his face jumped out of a car and pulled out a gun. Elizabeth fled but her father, Sayed, 59, who'd come out onto the porch, was killed by a single shot to the chest. It emerged the intended target was Ray Frangieh. Ray and his brother, Joe, had been released from prison in February that year, having been jailed for cocaine supply. Ordered to pay restitution to the NSW Crime Commission, Ray Frangieh had sold his yellow BMW to another crime figure, Ken Tan. When Tan failed to pay the $50,000 for the car, Ray reported the matter to the police. According to court records, the first drive-by shooting occurred on the same day the police confiscated the BMW. Earlier on the day of the second shooting, Ray had run Tan off the road in a road-rage incident which prompted Tan to retaliate by sending associates to shoot up the Frangieh house. Tan was later jailed for manslaughter. In Brisbane's Supreme Court in 2021, Ray Frangieh, a former Gold Coast nightclub promoter, pleaded guilty to trafficking in dangerous drugs, including cocaine. His ex-wife, Melissa, narrowly avoided jail for money-laundering almost $200,000, which the court heard was the criminal proceeds from her husband's drug supply empire. Ray Frangieh, 45, also has a conviction for assault, and in 2022, he pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception when he falsely nominated the previous owner of his car as the driver when he was caught doing 83kph over the speed limit in Lane Cove Road at North Ryde. Ray and his brother, Joe, had been jailed in NSW in 2002 over cocaine supply. For more than a decade, Joe Frangieh was embroiled in a long-running dispute with the Australian Tax Office over an audit of his tax affairs dating to 2007. According to court documents, there was $3,234,064 in unexplained deposits made into Frangieh's account that year. Frangieh subsequently provided a number of statutory declarations from family and friends claiming that 'certain deposits' made to his account were repayments of loans or payments for motor vehicles. He claimed some of the deposits were loan repayments from Ray, whom he'd lent $200,000 to buy a car. Joe Frangieh also claimed his sister, Elizabeth, and mother, Hasna, had deposited money with him to make property investments. One of those who provided a statutory declaration was Robert Melhem, who was later sentenced to a maximum of 10 years' jail for supplying commercial quantities of cocaine. Another was Frangieh's business partner George Cheihk, a Lamborghini-driving, ex-bankrupt Queensland property developer who had previously been banned from managing corporations for two years. A third was a since-banned bookmaker, Leo Lewin. In recent times, the discount carpet seller has gained quite a reputation for agreeing to allow major organised crime figures to stay at his house while on bail. One underworld figure, already on bail over an attempted murder, was charged with committing a fresh murder while on bail at Lewin's Sydney home. Although Frangieh's dispute with the ATO was settled, he sued the ATO for $8.75 million in 2017, claiming its pursuit of him had caused 'humiliation, embarrassment, stress, anxiety, emotional hurt and inconvenience'. He lost and was ordered to pay costs. His appeal was also unsuccessful. 'Mr Frangieh submitted that malice, bad faith and conscious maladministration' had been demonstrated by an ATO official. 'None of these grounds is made good,' the NSW Court of Appeal held. Loading In the hours after the shooting at the Davidson Avenue house on Thursday, a dozen heavily armed tactical police stormed the Frangieh home armed with battering rams. Arriving at 9am, they spent 10 minutes inside the luxury property before leaving. Detectives looking at the shooting are searching for at least two people. After the house was sprayed with bullets, a white 2021 Genesis was found on fire 3.5 kilometres away in Burwood. CCTV obtained by Nine News appears to show the lit car rolling down Stuart Street. The car is believed to have been stolen.
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Five shots fired': Lucky escape for mother of cocaine dealers in third drive-by shooting
On the evening of December 7, 2003, Hasna's daughter, Elizabeth, and other members of the family had just arrived home when a man wearing a stocking over his face jumped out of a car and pulled out a gun. Elizabeth fled but her father, Sayed, 59, who'd come out onto the porch, was killed by a single shot to the chest. It emerged the intended target was Ray Frangieh. Ray and his brother, Joe, had been released from prison in February that year, having been jailed for cocaine supply. Ordered to pay restitution to the NSW Crime Commission, Ray Frangieh had sold his yellow BMW to another crime figure, Ken Tan. When Tan failed to pay the $50,000 for the car, Ray reported the matter to the police. According to court records, the first drive-by shooting occurred on the same day the police confiscated the BMW. Earlier on the day of the second shooting, Ray had run Tan off the road in a road-rage incident which prompted Tan to retaliate by sending associates to shoot up the Frangieh house. Tan was later jailed for manslaughter. In Brisbane's Supreme Court in 2021, Ray Frangieh, a former Gold Coast nightclub promoter, pleaded guilty to trafficking in dangerous drugs, including cocaine. His ex-wife, Melissa, narrowly avoided jail for money-laundering almost $200,000, which the court heard was the criminal proceeds from her husband's drug supply empire. Ray Frangieh, 45, also has a conviction for assault, and in 2022, he pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception when he falsely nominated the previous owner of his car as the driver when he was caught doing 83kph over the speed limit in Lane Cove Road at North Ryde. Ray and his brother, Joe, had been jailed in NSW in 2002 over cocaine supply. For more than a decade, Joe Frangieh was embroiled in a long-running dispute with the Australian Tax Office over an audit of his tax affairs dating to 2007. According to court documents, there was $3,234,064 in unexplained deposits made into Frangieh's account that year. Frangieh subsequently provided a number of statutory declarations from family and friends claiming that 'certain deposits' made to his account were repayments of loans or payments for motor vehicles. He claimed some of the deposits were loan repayments from Ray, whom he'd lent $200,000 to buy a car. Joe Frangieh also claimed his sister, Elizabeth, and mother, Hasna, had deposited money with him to make property investments. One of those who provided a statutory declaration was Robert Melhem, who was later sentenced to a maximum of 10 years' jail for supplying commercial quantities of cocaine. Another was Frangieh's business partner George Cheihk, a Lamborghini-driving, ex-bankrupt Queensland property developer who had previously been banned from managing corporations for two years. A third was a since-banned bookmaker, Leo Lewin. In recent times, the discount carpet seller has gained quite a reputation for agreeing to allow major organised crime figures to stay at his house while on bail. One underworld figure, already on bail over an attempted murder, was charged with committing a fresh murder while on bail at Lewin's Sydney home. Although Frangieh's dispute with the ATO was settled, he sued the ATO for $8.75 million in 2017, claiming its pursuit of him had caused 'humiliation, embarrassment, stress, anxiety, emotional hurt and inconvenience'. He lost and was ordered to pay costs. His appeal was also unsuccessful. 'Mr Frangieh submitted that malice, bad faith and conscious maladministration' had been demonstrated by an ATO official. 'None of these grounds is made good,' the NSW Court of Appeal held. Loading In the hours after the shooting at the Davidson Avenue house on Thursday, a dozen heavily armed tactical police stormed the Frangieh home armed with battering rams. Arriving at 9am, they spent 10 minutes inside the luxury property before leaving. Detectives looking at the shooting are searching for at least two people. After the house was sprayed with bullets, a white 2021 Genesis was found on fire 3.5 kilometres away in Burwood. CCTV obtained by Nine News appears to show the lit car rolling down Stuart Street. The car is believed to have been stolen.
