WHEN debt collector Joseph Antoun
opened the door of his Sydney home early this week and was shot five
times, no one was surprised - except him.
He lived in the dangerous world of debt collecting but thought his
reputation and connections made him untouchable. He was obviously wrong
and, just like his business associate Vasko Boskovski, he was executed
by a professional hitman.
Antoun's murder last Monday and
Boskovski's in July has opened up a list of suspects that would fill the
Entertainment Centre, as Sydney businessman Jim Byrnes quipped this
week when told his protagonist Antoun was dead.
Sydney criminal Joseph Antoun, who was shot and killed five times. Picture: Supplied
Source: Supplied
It has also exposed a murky world where debt collecting is big
business - and a shady one - especially when you deal in millions.
Murdered
Sydney businessman Michael McGurk was known as a violent standover man,
albeit in a suit, who lived on the north shore and would buy debts
confident he could recover them using his own brand of tactics.
The most common practice was for commissions to be paid to those offering to collect the debt on behalf of the client.
Respectable businesses have been known to use collection agencies who then employ less desirable types to get the money.
Antoun
dabbled in debt collection - and just generally ripping people off. He
was a well-known thug with a criminal record but had recently taken to
using the Brothers for Life gang to do his dirty work.
Police confirmed
their investigation into Antoun's murder includes Brothers for Life.
"But there are a lot of other people who may have wanted him dead," they added.
According to police, Antoun and Boskovki had links beyond the normal Sydney criminal milieu.
"If you look deeper you will find connections to figures in the Melbourne underworld as well, especially with Antoun.''
Vasko Boskovski, who has been linked to Joseph Antoun. Picture: Facebook
Source: Supplied
The lesser known Boskovski has been linked to a convicted Sydney Muslim terrorist.
There
is some speculation their murders are a result of their switch from
employing Brothers for Life as muscle to another group linked to Muslim
crime groups.
Both gangs are well known to the Middle Eastern Crime Squad.
The
other theory doing the rounds of the Sydney underworld is Antoun and
another of his associates had been hauled in to the NSW Crime Commission
for questioning more than once over the past few months.
Other
crims get nervous when people like Antoun are under the glare of the
all-powerful Crime Commission, who have the power to jail people simply
for not answering questions. Many fellow criminals fear they are likely
to cut a deal and give them up. That makes them a target to be silenced.
The pair were known to be loving family men who lived fairly unpretentious lives in simple suburban Sydney homes.
Sydney
businessman Jim Byrnes has already told police he had been involved in a
soured business deal with Antoun and named him as being behind a
drive-by shooting of his home, vandalism of his offices and cars and
assaults on his staff.
Jim Byrnes, who knew Joesph Antoun.
Source: News Limited
"I have never said I wanted Joe Antoun dead. I had hoped up
until the news of his death that he would be arrested and charged with
crimes arising from complaints I had made of Mr Antoun of arranging the
drive-by shooting at my house and arranging for the assault of a
colleague in Queensland and destroying my Sydney admin office and
assaulting staff,'' he said.
"I had hoped that some years of incarceration may give him time to reflect on his actions."
Byrnes said he had settled the dispute with Antoun, paying him "f … off" money.
"A commercial settlement was agreed to settle any claims Antoun might have tried to bring in the future,'' Byrnes said.
The home where Joe Antoun was shot after he opened the door of his Strathfield home. Picture: John Grainger
Source: News Limited
"In all honesty, these claims would have been vigorously
defended and were without merit, however while both corporately and
personally we have a zero tolerance for thuggery, intimidation and
demanding money with menace, we were extremely mindful of the toll Mr
Antoun's actions had caused to families, including my own, the sheer
lack of productivity based on the huge wasted time and effort dealing
with heightened security, investigations, legal options and other
advice. So, in order to obtain closure on the dispute, a settlement was
negotiated and agreed.
"Our various company interest have now
tightened corporate governance so these forms of attacks can never lead
to the corporate sabotage brought about by Mr Antoun and his partner in
crime.''
Police at the crime scene in Strathfield where Joe Antoun was killed. Picture: John Grainger
Source: News Limited
He said the man was a chameleon whose personality could turn on the drop of a hat.
"I first met Antoun in the company of an associate and others. Although in shorts, running shoes and long-sleeve
T-shirt
he had a rather brutish appearance but he had a very polite manner and
was courteous, respectful and polite,'' Byrnes said.
"I would
however, some months later when we disagreed on an agreed terms of a
purchase, that I began to understand that Antoun had two very different
sides.
"Antoun could have a most intimidating demeanour when angry. To say I felt uncomfortable would be an understatement.''
Byrnes
expected to be questioned by police over Antoun's death but, according
to detectives, it may be some time before they get around to him. There
are plenty of other suspects.
Jim Byrnes writes exclusively about his dealings with slain standover man Joseph Antoun.
dailytelegraph.com.au 21 Dec 2013
What the corporate media fail to disclose is that debt collection in Australia IS 'unlawful'.
ANY debt collection agency CAN be dealt with in a manner that can dissolve the debt, in a 'lawful' manner.
Corpau will be posting the information regards to debt collection in the How To / How the post label.
This is all part of the 'Financial Terrorism' policy supported by the 'authorities'.
The police are also part of the 'debt collection' scam against the people of Australia.
- The police swear an oath to the 'Queen', but are at the disposal of corporations in order to enslave the masses to 'corporate rule' rather than the Common Law and 'Constitutional' freedoms Australian citizens truly have.
The new policy is to criminalise as many citizens as possible, so that they have a 'police record' in order to control / limit options and (free) movement.
The effect is that the media verbosely denotes that (Victorian) jails are overflowing, and other makeshift measures have to be implemented.