2 days ago
Sydney 'crook' chaser denied bail over offences related to alleged theft of safe with contents worth almost $1 million
A Sydney man who says he chases "crooks and their crooks" has been denied bail in the ACT Magistrates Court, amid allegations about a stolen safe containing nearly $1 million in gold bullion, coins and ammunition.
Ray Younan, 63, was initially arrested in May when he was extradited from Sydney to Canberra.
He is charged with incitement and unlawfully confining a person.
Today the court heard the safe was stolen from inside a Canberra home.
The court heard the owners did not call police, instead they called Mr Younan, who lists himself as a "mediator".
Magistrate Jane Campbell told the court it is alleged Mr Younan had been paid $10,000 to recover the safe and its contents, from the person the owners believed had taken it.
Material revealed to the court alleges that person found Mr Younan in their house with a sledgehammer, demanding to know where the safe was.
It is alleged that when the person said they didn't know where the safe was, a meeting was arranged at a sporting field.
The person said when they arrived Mr Younan was not there, but there were three other people, one of whom beat them with a bat.
Magistrate Campbell read some telephone intercept transcripts alleged to be a conversation between Mr Younan and one of the owners of the safe, saying he had organised the assault.
In another conversation allegedly between Mr Younan and another man, he said "I've done this for 35 years".
Mr Younan's lawyer asked the court to release him from custody for health reasons, saying he had missed key medical appointments.
He also offered a surety from Mr Younan's wife, saying his client could abide by strict conditions at his home in Sydney.
But prosecutors said there was a real risk of reoffending and interfering with evidence, which no bail conditions could address.
The court heard it was a strong prosecution case, where Mr Younan's actions had transgressed into "standover work", a term for a person employed by someone else to intimidate a victim.
Magistrate Campbell agreed.
She found no court conditions could overcome her concerns, and denied bail.
The safe was later found empty at Mawson Ponds.
The contents have not been recovered.
Mr Younan's case will return to court in September.
