Arrests in ex-Aussie cricketer’s alleged abduction
The brother of Stuart MacGill’s partner has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the Australian cricketer’s kidnapping on Sydney’s lower north shore last month.
MacGill, who played 44 test matches for Australia, was allegedly kidnapped in Cremorne and threatened with a gun during an hour-long ordeal that unfolded on April 14.
MacGill was allegedly confronted by Marino Sotiropoulos – the brother of MacGill’s recent partner Maria O’Meagher – near the intersection of Parraween and Winnie streets in Cremorne, about 8pm.
A short time later the pair were allegedly approached by two other men and MacGill, 50, was forced into a vehicle.
He was then allegedly driven to a property more than 60 kilometres away in the city’s southwest, where three men assaulted him and threatened him with a firearm.
About an hour later, MacGill was driven to the Belmore area, about 40 kilometres away, and released.
The incident was reported to officers from North Shore Police Area Command six days later on April 20.
Following extensive inquiries, detectives arrested four men, including Sotiropoulos, 46, at 6am yesterday.
The other men were Sun Min
Nguyen, 42, and brothers Frederick and Richard Schaaf, 27 and 29.
The men were taken to local police stations where they have been charged with unlawfully taking or detaining someone with intent to gain advantage, causing actual bodily harm.
Sotiropoulos was charged with participating in a criminal group and supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
Nguyen was charged with directing the activities of a criminal group.
They were denied bail. MacGill has recently been in a relationship with O’Meagher, owner of Aristotle’s restaurant in Neutral Bay, where MacGill works as general manager.
Sotiropoulos is also listed on business records as a former owner of the restaurant.
Detective Acting Superintendent Anthony Holton, robbery and serious crime squad commander, said MacGill was being treated as ‘‘purely a victim of kidnapping’’ and he did not owe the alleged perpetrators any money.
‘‘He is not involved in any other back story that leads to him having a personal debt,’’ Holton said.
The men, who police said were members of a criminal gang, allegedly targeted MacGill to get money out of him but none was handed over.