Court remands Ibrahim over `murder plot`

Just months after being shot five times as he sat in his Lamborghini in a quiet
Sydney suburb, Fadi Ibrahim is behind bars, accused of plotting a murder.
Police would not say if the conspiracy to murder 37-year-old Sydney man John Macris
was retaliation for the June 5 shooting, in which Ibrahim's girlfriend was also
injured.
Ibrahim, 35, and Rodney Phillip Atkinson, 29, are charged with conspiring to murder
Mr Macris between July and September this year.
Police say conspiracy charges will also be laid against Ibrahim's brother Michael
Ibrahim, who is currently in jail for the 2006 manslaughter of Robin Nassour, who
was fatally stabbed in a Sydney carpark.
Fadi Ibrahim and Atkinson did not appear before Magistrate Anthony Marsden when
their matters were briefly mentioned at Parramatta Local Court on Friday.
No bail applications were made and they were both formally remanded into custody
ahead of their next court appearances, due on October 8.
Outside court, Detective Inspector Ben Janssen, of the Middle Eastern Organised
Crime Squad, said police would allege a number of meetings and phone calls
constituted the plot to murder Mr Macris.
"We are relying on telephone intercept material and that will have to be reviewed in
relation to the whole investigation," he said.
"Over 7,000 telephone calls were intercepted."
Det Insp Janssen did not say whether Mr Macris was under police protection, but said
"there were concerns ...(and) those concerns have been relayed to him".
It was unclear exactly when the alleged attack on Mr Macris was due to take place,
Det Insp Janssen said.
"The arrest phase happened yesterday because of our concerns both for Mr Macris and
other members of the community."
According to court documents, Atkinson, the Ibrahim brothers and others conspired to
murder Mr Macris between July 5 and September 24 this year.
Fadi Ibrahim and Atkinson were charged following a raid on a Rosehill home in
Sydney's west on Thursday.
In addition to the conspiracy to murder charge, Atkinson faces 11 other charges,
including possessing an unauthorised pistol and possessing drugs.
Fadi Ibrahim's lawyer, Stephen Alexander, said the allegation against his client was
based on telephone intercepts, and asked police to provide that material "as
urgently as possible".
He said he wanted to listen to the recordings before his client's bail application,
expected on October 8.
Mr Alexander also said he had tendered a medical report and asked that Ibrahim's
medication requirements be observed while he was on remand.
One month before the alleged murder plot was hatched, Fadi Ibrahim was shot in the
arm, chest and stomach while sitting in his car outside his home.
His 23-year-old girlfriend suffered a leg wound when the gun was fired through the
car window.
Ibrahim spent weeks in hospital recovering from his injuries.
Fadi and Michael are the younger brothers of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim, who
controls several nightclubs.
Older brother Sam Ibrahim was in court to support his brother.
A scuffle involving Ibrahim supporters broke out at a cafe nearby the court before
the hearing, but it was not clear why.