An alleged killer bragged about his involvement in the assassination of Sydney crime figure Bilal Hamze at the height of an underworld feud, a Supreme Court jury has been told.
Hamze was gunned down in Sydney’s CBD after dining with a sex worker on June 17, 2021, amid a spate of retaliatory shootings between the Hamzy organised crime network and the rival Alameddine organised crime network.
Samuel John Rokomaqisa is standing trial in the NSW Supreme Court, accused of murdering Hamze, 34, and conspiring to murder Hamze’s younger brother, Ibrahem Hamze, over several months in 2021. Rokomaqisa has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In her opening address on Monday, Crown prosecutor Kate Ratcliffe told the jury the Alameddine and Hamzy organised crime networks had a “history of hostility” in the lead up to Hamze’s murder, including several shootings between the groups.
“These two crimes were committed in the context of a feud between two warring gangs in Sydney,” Ratcliffe said.
Ratcliffe said that prosecutors would rely on several admissions Rokomaqisa allegedly made to associates after Bilal Hamze’s killing.
Hamze, who the jury heard was a “high-ranking” member of the Hamzy organised crime network – which uses an alternative spelling – had relocated to the CBD from Western Sydney with his wife and child to avoid attempts on his life by rival crime groups.
Ratcliffe said Rokomaqisa had shown an associate a news item about Hamze’s murder, telling them he and his cousin “did the job” and that he had been “the driver”.
On another occasion, Ratcliffe said, Rokomaqisa was captured on an intercepted telephone call telling an associate that he was owed $200,000 for “the thing”, which prosecutors allege was Hamze’s murder.
Ratcliffe told the jury that Rokomaqisa had committed “criminal acts” to gain the trust of the Alameddine network and demonstrate his loyalty in exchange for “significant payments”.
Hamze was killed as retaliation for the shooting of an Alameddine crime associate 10 days earlier, Ratcliffe said. The failed plot to murder Ibrahem Hamze, she said, was also planned by the Alameddine crime network as retaliation for the shooting.
During a covertly recorded meeting the day after the June 7 shooting of the Alameddine associate, several members allegedly discussed retaliation against the Hamzy family.
“Tell Raf Ibby needs to go,” one member allegedly said.
The plot to kill Ibrahem Hamze was foiled on August 14, 2021, when a NSW Police patrol car noticed a Mercedes-Benz parked in a no stopping zone, the jury heard. When police attempted to pull the vehicle over, it fled. Rokomaqisa’s DNA was found on items inside the car after it was abandoned shortly after the police pursuit, Ratcliffe said.
Rokomaqisa is accused of assaulting an elderly man and stealing his Toyota Camry after abandoning the Mercedes-Benz in North Sydney. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge. When interviewed by police after being arrested in late 2021, Rokomaqisa allegedly said he had never been in either vehicle.
Rokomaqisa denied having any knowledge of Hamze’s murder or having any contact with members of the Alameddine family when he was charged with the 34-year-old’s murder in late 2022. However, Rokomaqisa had made admissions about his connections to the gang during telephone intercepts and conversations captured on recording devices, and was a member of the KVT – a subgroup of Fijian men used to assist the Alameddine network in “criminal activity”, Ratcliffe said.
Defence barrister Nicole Carroll said in her opening address on Monday that Rokomaqisa denied any involvement in the crimes he has been charged over.
“The accused, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, did not murder Bilal Hamze,” Carroll said.
Carroll said Rokomaqisa was not aware of a plot to murder Ibrahem Hamze, or anyone else.
‘How did the shooters know exactly where Bilal Hamze was going to be at 10.20pm?’
Defence barrister Nicole Carroll
She said the defence case would raise questions about whether other people, including the sex worker who dined with Hamze moments before his murder, had any involvement in his killing or whether she had been used by others to “get to Bilal Hamze”.
“The key to the murder surrounds them,” Carroll said.
“How did the shooters know exactly where Bilal Hamze was going to be at 10.20pm on the 17th of June 2021?”
Rokomaqisa’s defence will also examine the Hamzy network’s conflicts with the Comanchero motorcycle gang and the Haouchar crime network at the time.
“The Hamzys were trying to kill senior members of both groups,” Carroll told the jury.
The Alameddine network, too, was in dispute with several crime groups at the time of Hamze’s killing, Carroll said.
“Which criminal group is responsible for the murder of Bilal Hamze is in dispute,” Carroll said.
The trial before Acting Justice Robert Allan Hulme continues.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
From our partners
Read the full article here
