Secret police recordings helped unravel George Alex’s sprawling and corrupt labour hire empire.
Senior CFMEU figures secretly helped organised crime kingpin George Alex build a sprawling and corrupt labour hire empire, despite repeated warnings he was an underworld figure who had previously bribed union officials and ripped off both workers and the Tax Office.as part of an illegal scheme that federal police found relied on Alex’s success “leveraging contacts in the trade unions” and inside large building firms.
Police and court documents, along with briefings from confidential CFMEU and building firm sources, reveal that Alex successfully courted select union officials for years. Jarvis signed off on the agreements GHRC secured with the CFMEU in 2019 and 2020, including the deal setting conditions on the Queensland government’s $4 billion Queens Wharf project.
In the final commission report, former High Court Justice Dyson Heydon concluded that a senior CFMEU insider had regularly visited Alex’s NSW home to collect $2500 bribe payments which Alex would sometimes stash in a drawer in his bathroom. Various state and federal investigations between 2011 and 2021 also uncovered detailed evidence of Alex’s relationship with key figures in Australia’s underworld, including his more recent dealings with Sydney drug trafficker Mick Ibrahim and his previous relationship with Melbourne’s Mick Gatto .
The facade helped him explain why his business partners included multiple convicted criminals, such as killer and since-murdered Hells Angels enforcer Steve Mitrovic and bikie drug trafficker Peter Sidirourgos. The practice is criminal and involves shifting assets from an indebted company to a new firm to avoid paying creditors, tax or employee entitlements.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Federal government rejects former CFMEU boss John Setka's claim of secret resignation dealMr Setka claims former Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke agreed to forgo appointing administrators to the CFMEU in exchange for the union boss's resignation.
Read more »
‘Absolutely disgraceful’: Labor slams Greens for siding with ‘organised crime’ elements around CFMEUThe Greens have been slammed for voting against legislation designed to clean up the rogue construction division of the CFMEU, with the Albanese government accusing the minor party of siding with “organised crime”.
Read more »
CFMEU launches high court challenge over forced administrationThe CFMEU launches a legal challenge to laws that force the construction union to accept an administrator, after allegations of criminal consorting, corruption and thuggery.
Read more »
Interim CFMEU report finds workers reluctant to speak outThe probe was sparked after revelations were aired by 60 Minutes and Nine newspapers spotlighting allegations the union has been infiltrated by criminal figures.
Read more »
Coalition push to ban CFMEU flag from Victorian govt project sitesVictorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto is pushing for the state government to ban CFMEU flags from taxpayer funded construction sites.
Read more »
After sharing a spotlight with the CFMEU, the Greens eye off Labor seatsA Greens MP who upset Labor at the last state election says the minor party could take another four seats from the incumbent government.
Read more »