BLOODY BID TO EXTORT A FORTUNE
BLOODIED and battered, with gaffer tape still on his wrists, this image of innocent businessman Mahmoud Zouhour is an insight into the latest trend of Sydney’s underworld — extortion.
Mohamad Zouhour had just driven his red Ford Mustang into the underground carpark of his Brighton Le Sands apartment block about 2.40am on June 22, 2020.
But Zouhour was unaware that three men – including Bilel Trad from Mr Druitt – were waiting for him.
Trad, 29, will be sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated kidnapping using corporal violence and is facing a maximum 20-year jail term.
Documents tendered in the NSW District Court reveal how the trio – armed with a baseball bat, knuckle dusters and knives – attacked Zouhour and demanded access to his apartment where they believed $300,000 was hidden.
“As he got out of the vehicle he was approached by the three men, one of them punching him in the face with knuckledusters,” the documents state. “Trad placed a large knife against the victim’s body and speaking in Arabic demanded to know his unit number. Fearing for the safety of his family who were in the unit, the victim refused.”
Zouhour handed over a satchel with $10,000 cash and a Rolex watch, but refused to tell the men his unit number.
The documents state that the men continued to assault the prone, bound and gagged businessman.
Giving up on access to the unit, the men instead took his car and phone, running the Mustang over Zouhour’s foot in a final insult.
Trad was arrested in October 2020 after investigators pieced together CCTV and other evidence.