Three men charged over murder of former Comanchero boss Mahmoud ‘Mick’ Hawi
The former Comanchero bikie chief was shot in broad daylight. Photo: AAP
Three men have been charged over their alleged involvement in the execution-style murder of former bikie boss Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi in Sydney’s south.
On Friday, two members of the criminal gang Lone Wolf, aged 37 and 38, were arrested while leaving a barber shop in Bexley and charged with the former Comanchero boss’s murder.
A 36-year-old Brighton Le Sands man was also arrested at Balmain and charged with being an alleged accessory after the fact to the murder.
Hawi was shot at least half a dozen times in broad daylight while sitting in his luxury four-wheel-drive outside the Fitness First gym in Rockdale, in February earlier this year.
The 37-year-old former gang boss later went into cardiac arrest and later died at St George hospital.
Police are alleging Hawi was shot by the 37-year-old Lone Wolf member, and the 38-year-old man allegedly planned and coordinated the shooting.
All three men have been refused bail.
Police are also expecting to make further arrests.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Malcolm Lanyon told reporters at Parramatta there was a financial motive for the alleged murder of Hawi “rather than a typical [gang] dispute”.
“His death was to prevent further money being paid to Mr Hawi, rather than any traditional outlaw motorcycle gang conflict,” he said.
“I do believe there would be further arrests.”
He said a complex police investigation led to the arrests and charges against the three men, and was mostly reliant on forensic and technical evidence.
“We had to go through extensive amounts of CCTV, and automatic number plate recognition,” he said.
“In these types of matters we have very few witnesses prepared to give statements.”
Following Hawi’s murder earlier this year, a grey Mercedes Benz station wagon was torched and abandoned in Rockdale.
Hawi had served a prison sentence over the death of Hells Angels bikie associate Anthony Zervas during a brawl at Sydney Airport in 2009.
He was initially convicted of murdering Zervas, who was bashed with a metal bollard during the brawl, but his conviction and 28-year sentence was overturned on appeal.
