An alleged cocaine dealer says he’s never met any members of a notorious Sydney underworld family despite police accusing him of being involved in the joint kidnapping of a man who was producing fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates.
Anthony Estephan, 23, was one of seven men charged in relation to the kidnapping of a 24-year-old man at Merrylands on September 18 last year.
Police said the man, who was allegedly involved in making fake vaccination certificates, had been assaulted by five men, forced into a van and taken to a warehouse in Auburn where he was allegedly bashed, stabbed and extorted over several hours.
Mr Estephan was charged with take or detain in company, possess prohibited and supply prohibited drug.
Following his arrest on December 30, Mr Estephan was denied bail in the Local Court and on Monday he made another bail application in the NSW Supreme Court.
The court heard one of Mr Estephan’s kidnapping co-accused, Joshua Patrick McCalla, 20, had been granted Supreme Court bail last week while their fellow co-accuseds, Ahmad and Bilal El-Chamy, Tareek and Haissam Hamzy and Ibrahem Hamze remain remanded in custody.
None of the group have entered pleas, however Mr Estephan’s defence barrister told the court the Crown case against her client put him in an allegedly less serious position than Mr McCalla.
The barrister said in conversations police allegedly monitored between Mr McCalla and Mr Estephan after their arrest, Mr McCalla said “you didn’t do much”.
During the conversation, the court heard Mr Estephan allegedly said “they can’t prove we were there bashing”.
A full brief of evidence had not been prepared by police and Mr Estephan was being treated harshly in jail, the barrister said.
“He’s in some sort of quarantine,” she said.
“It’s very mysterious as to why this is the case.
“He’s basically been in one-off isolation for nearly two months. It’s even limited the amount of sunshine he’s getting.”
The court heard police claims Mr Estephan was on Rickard St when the kidnapping took place were not accurate because the descriptions of his appearance in CCTV seemed to be inconsistent.
“We say he’s not at the abduction,” the barrister said.
“My client denies he’s ever met any of the Hamzys.”
The prosecutor acting on behalf of the Crown said there was a strong case against Mr Estephan.
“Video recordings of the alleged abduction were taken by a number of witnesses,” she said.
Mr Estephan’s barrister said she understood further accused were about to charged over the alleged kidnapping and there had been limited information provided by police about the cocaine possession and supply charges her client was hit with.
“So far as the allegation of a continuing supply offence is concerned, we have no particulars, absolutely nothing, in relation to what is alleged,” she said.
While Mr Estephan had allegedly been found with white powder, the court heard no testing to see what it was had been conducted and his barrister said “my client does accept he does use some powders in association with his gym work”.
The court heard CCTV footage put Mr Estephan at the Auburb location around the time the alleged kidnap victim was detained and he was discussing the incident on social media afterwards.
Justice Natalie Adams reserved her decision on the bail application until 2pm Tuesday.
