Police are monitoring rising tensions between rival bikie clubs as they probe bad blood with the Finks as a possible motive for a failed hit on a Mongol member.
Rocco Curra remains in hospital after being critically wounded by a hail of bullets as he sat in his car at Bourke St, Bulleen, on August 1. Sources say it was a miracle the 32-year-old survived the ambush, in which about 10 shots were fired at close range.
Victoria Police’s anti-bikie Echo taskforce is investigating the shooting.
A BMW getaway car used by the gunmen was found torched nearby. On social media, Mr Curra proudly proclaims his Mongols membership. His Instagram handle includes “MFFM”, an acronym for the outlaw motorcycle club’s motto, “Mongols Forever, Forever Mongols”.
Business records show he has been a director of Bundoora-based Central Concrete Pumping since 2013. Mr Curra is a friend of high-profile underworld figure Toby Mitchell, who signed on with the Mongols this year. The Curra shooting came weeks after senior Fink Sione Hokafonu was shot in Melbourne’s southeast.
Mr Hokafonu, of Sydney, had been at the Fountain Gate Hotel in Narre Warren before being shot at an unknown location and making his own way to hospital. It is unclear whether that incident was the result of an internal dispute or caused by conflict with another outlaw motorcycle club (OMC).
The Finks are said to have been steadily increasing their influence in Victoria. Their national president, Koshan Radford, has challenged a firearms prohibition order subjecting him and his property to search without warrant.
Police earlier this year released footage of gunmen opening fire on the Frankston home of another senior club figure, Brett Reker.
Police declined to speak about specifics of the Curra inquiry. “As part of the investigation, police are looking at whether the shooting is linked to OMCs. Police are also aware of tensions between a number of OMCs and are actively monitoring these groups,” a spokeswoman said.
The Mongols absorbed many Finks members in 2013 when they arrived in the country from the United States. But some Finks refused to cross over and there has been animosity at times.
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Source: The West Australian