Criminals give the skinny on Ibrahims. Will IGP Musa Hasan face the bullets too?
THE four Ibrahims, the Brothers Grim, have been on the fringes and at times in the centre of Sydney's underworld since the 1980s, but few have landed a glove on them.
"I've never lost a fight," the nightclub owner John Ibrahim boasted in 1993's People Of The Cross, a book that gave him such rein to brag that some think he had just finished reading Chopper Read's first effort.
"I've seen violence beyond belief … people have died in front of me."
But as drive-by shootings, bombs and bikies make their presence felt in Sydney, Ibrahim's colourful racing-identity-speak has lost its gloss.
His younger brother, Fadi Donny, was "hit" last Friday while sitting in his black Lamborghini in Castle Cove with his girlfriend.
Police say this youngest of the band of brothers had been treading on toes as he moved out of the shadow of his high-profile brothers, John, Hassan "Sam" (on remand for kidnapping) and Michael (jailed for up to nine years for his part in the stabbing death of Robin Nassour, brother of the television actor George).
Coincidently, Shayda Bastani Rad, the woman in the Italian sports car, was once engaged to Faouzi Abou-Jibal, an apprentice criminal wanted for Nassour's killing until he was shot in the back while on the run.
Senior underworld figures said Fadi, 35, was unlikely to end up at the wrong end of a gun.
"He got along with everyone, he was well respected, everyone liked him," one said.
But another well-informed criminal said Fadi had recently begun to try to carve his niche in Sydney's underworld. "He's been getting a reputation, making a lot of noise, and not everyone liked it," he said.
Two other underworld sources said Fadi was owed money and might have been shot as a means of escaping a debt. A former bikie, understood to owe money to people associated with Michael and Sam, had been refusing to pay, they said.
The shooting could also be related to Fadi's claimed involvement in a drug syndicate allegedly run by Michael Ibrahim.
When Michael was jailed, Fadi, along with the Kings Cross operator Todd O'Connor - who was later murdered - and another underworld figure, allegedly took control of the syndicate.
The three were good friends and could often be seen training together at the City Gym in Darlinghurst.
Fadi had recently returned from an overseas trip when the Herald reported the discovery of $2.9 million in the kitchen ceiling of his sister's South Wentworthville home.
In a coming Supreme Court hearing, the NSW Crime Commission is expected to allege the money belonged to Michael and Fadi Ibrahim and was the proceeds of crime.
Sydney's underworld has become a battleground in recent months as bikie gangs vie to take over territories vacated by older criminals.
The war broke into the open on March 22 when Comanchero and Hells Angels members clashed at Sydney Airport, leaving Anthony Zervas bludgeoned to death.
Links have been made between Friday night's attack at Castle Cove, during which at least five shots were fired at Ibrahim from a silenced revolver, and two well-known underworld killings - Milad Sande in 2005 and O'Connor last year.
Sande was murdered by unknown killers the same year Michael Ibrahim allegedly took over his amphetamine importation and distribution syndicate. When Michael went to jail in late 2007, O'Connor, Fadi and other underworld figures are claimed to have carried on the syndicate.
Sande was the cousin of a Bandidos Blacktown chapter member, Danny. His uncle, also Milad, one of Sydney's biggest heroin dealers, appeared at the Wood royal commission.
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What happened to the Ibrahims can also happen to IGP Musa Hasan? Having a playmate like Tengku is like having a bullet between your eyes.
"I've never lost a fight," the nightclub owner John Ibrahim boasted in 1993's People Of The Cross, a book that gave him such rein to brag that some think he had just finished reading Chopper Read's first effort.
"I've seen violence beyond belief … people have died in front of me."
But as drive-by shootings, bombs and bikies make their presence felt in Sydney, Ibrahim's colourful racing-identity-speak has lost its gloss.
His younger brother, Fadi Donny, was "hit" last Friday while sitting in his black Lamborghini in Castle Cove with his girlfriend.
Police say this youngest of the band of brothers had been treading on toes as he moved out of the shadow of his high-profile brothers, John, Hassan "Sam" (on remand for kidnapping) and Michael (jailed for up to nine years for his part in the stabbing death of Robin Nassour, brother of the television actor George).
Coincidently, Shayda Bastani Rad, the woman in the Italian sports car, was once engaged to Faouzi Abou-Jibal, an apprentice criminal wanted for Nassour's killing until he was shot in the back while on the run.
Senior underworld figures said Fadi, 35, was unlikely to end up at the wrong end of a gun.
"He got along with everyone, he was well respected, everyone liked him," one said.
But another well-informed criminal said Fadi had recently begun to try to carve his niche in Sydney's underworld. "He's been getting a reputation, making a lot of noise, and not everyone liked it," he said.
Two other underworld sources said Fadi was owed money and might have been shot as a means of escaping a debt. A former bikie, understood to owe money to people associated with Michael and Sam, had been refusing to pay, they said.
The shooting could also be related to Fadi's claimed involvement in a drug syndicate allegedly run by Michael Ibrahim.
When Michael was jailed, Fadi, along with the Kings Cross operator Todd O'Connor - who was later murdered - and another underworld figure, allegedly took control of the syndicate.
The three were good friends and could often be seen training together at the City Gym in Darlinghurst.
Fadi had recently returned from an overseas trip when the Herald reported the discovery of $2.9 million in the kitchen ceiling of his sister's South Wentworthville home.
In a coming Supreme Court hearing, the NSW Crime Commission is expected to allege the money belonged to Michael and Fadi Ibrahim and was the proceeds of crime.
Sydney's underworld has become a battleground in recent months as bikie gangs vie to take over territories vacated by older criminals.
The war broke into the open on March 22 when Comanchero and Hells Angels members clashed at Sydney Airport, leaving Anthony Zervas bludgeoned to death.
Links have been made between Friday night's attack at Castle Cove, during which at least five shots were fired at Ibrahim from a silenced revolver, and two well-known underworld killings - Milad Sande in 2005 and O'Connor last year.
Sande was murdered by unknown killers the same year Michael Ibrahim allegedly took over his amphetamine importation and distribution syndicate. When Michael went to jail in late 2007, O'Connor, Fadi and other underworld figures are claimed to have carried on the syndicate.
Sande was the cousin of a Bandidos Blacktown chapter member, Danny. His uncle, also Milad, one of Sydney's biggest heroin dealers, appeared at the Wood royal commission.
***************************************************************************************
What happened to the Ibrahims can also happen to IGP Musa Hasan? Having a playmate like Tengku is like having a bullet between your eyes.
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