Police allow biker boss to leave country
‘NO EVIDENCE’ OF ROLE IN MURDER
A former outlaw motorcycle gang boss who was staying at the Pattaya home that a murdered Australian drug dealer was abducted from last week has been allowed to leave Thailand.
Amad “Jay” Malkoun, a notorious underworld figure in the Australian state of Victoria, claimed he slept through the attack in which five men stormed into the home of Wayne Rodney Schneider, beat him and kidnapped him.
Schneider’s body was found in a shallow grave on Wednesday. Police said the former Hell’s Angel had sustained serious head injuries and a broken neck.
Mr Malkoun was questioned early last week by police as a witness to the abduction, but according to Australia’s Fairfax Media had returned to his home in Dubai, where he is reportedly a close associate of a royal family member.
Pattaya police chief Suktat Pumpanmuang said investigators had identified all suspects in the murder, except one who they knew only as “Jay”. Police would not confirm yesterday that the Jay they were seeking is Mr Malkoun.
But Pol Col Suktat said police found no evidence linking Mr Malkoun to the murder. He said the 52-year-old had shown police documents indicating he had travelled to Thailand for medical treatment.
He said Mr Malkoun had cooperated with a police request to remain in Thailand for two days beyond his original schedule so police could monitor him.
“Yes, physically he looked like [a gang member], but we can’t judge him on looks. We had no evidence to detain him,” Pol Col Suktat said.
Mr Malkoun told police he had been a guest in Schneider’s villa since Saturday. He said he had met Antonio Bagnato, the prime suspect in the murder, at Schneider’s villa and the three men had gone out drinking on Sunday. Mr Malkoun said he was feeling unwell and decided to go home early to sleep.
Mr Malkoun said he spoke to Schneider and Mr Bagnato again briefly when they returned to the house to continue drinking.
He claimed he slept through Schneider’s abduction despite reports of bullet casings being found nearby and the presence of a large pool of blood in the villa.
Schneider’s cries for help aroused the attention of security guards at the housing development, who witnessed part of the assault.
Investigators are still waiting to question Mr Bagnato, who was arrested in Phnom Penh on Friday and was due to be extradited to Thailand last night.
Mr Bagnato, 26, is a former member of a Sydney biker gang and was a business partner of Schneider.
A 21-year-old American, Tyler Gerard, was also arrested in Thailand on Thursday and has allegedly confessed to his role in the crime.
Police said his testimony helped provide information about the other suspects in the case. They were identified as Mr Bagnato, American Isaac Jonnes Stetson, and two Australian men identified only as “Jay” and “Toe”.
Police believe Schneider may have been kidnapped as part of an extortion attempt. He was reportedly a well-known drug trafficker who ran an extensive criminal network worth tens of millions of dollars. He has reportedly been the subject of at least one previous extortion attempt in Thailand.
A source in Melbourne told Fairfax that Schneider had recently returned to Thailand with the proceeds of a large drug trafficking operation in Europe. The source said Schneider’s considerable wealth was well known among Australian biker gangs.
Schneider spent 18 months on New South Wales’ “most wanted” list over the shooting of a bouncer in 2007, although the charges were later dropped.
Mr Malkoun, a former champion kickboxer and standover man, took the reins of the Comanchero motorcycle club’s Victoria chapter in 2009 and oversaw a dramatic rise in the club’s fortunes. Within three years, the club would become the state’s most powerful, lucrative and dangerous gang.
Despite his strong ties to the underworld, Mr Malkoun has only ever been charged with one crime. In 1989 he was convicted of running what was at the time the largest heroin trafficking operation in Victorian history.
Australian media reported that Mr Malkoun became estranged from the Comancheros amid pressure from law enforcement, and sold his Australian assets in 2013 to relocate to Dubai.
Fairfax Media reports that Mr Malkoun is a close associate of a member of the Gulf state’s royal family, who has allowed him to stay in the United Arab Emirates despite his extensive criminal history and organised crime connections. The relationship is, according to Fairfax, based on a mutual interest in horses.
Mr Malkoun is believed to still maintain ties with the club. He was recently spotted in Chechnya and was reported to have established a Comanchero chapter in Russia.