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A Melbourne restaurateur accused of threatening underworld figure Mick Gatto on social media has been arrested after two guns were found at his Beaumaris home.
Detectives from the Viper taskforce interviewed Jamal Mohammad, 60, on September 13. They released him without charge.
Mick Gatto was allegedly threatened by Jamal Mohammad in a social media video.Credit: Pat Scala
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said police had also arrested and interviewed a 42-year-old man as part of the investigation into a “report of alleged threats”.
The spokeswoman confirmed that two firearms and ammunition were discovered at the bayside property.
Mohammad, who also uses the name Jamal Khan, emphatically denied owning any guns, and The Age does not suggest the firearms are his. He claims they were planted inside a 4WD vehicle parked outside his home.
A screengrab from a TikTok video posted by Jamal Mohammad.
“They have nothing to do with me and I have not been charged with anything,” Mohammad said.
The restaurateur and former security guard had been embroiled in an increasingly bitter feud with Gatto for several months, before recently posting a TikTok video in which he branded the former Carlton Crew boss a “weak dog.”
“You owe me money, you piece of shit. You didn’t turn up after I invite you, you run away… I’m looking for you, I’m f—ing looking for you everywhere … you take money from weak people, now I’ll f—ing take it from you,” Mohammad said in the 50-second video.
Gatto declined to comment when contacted by this masthead.
However, he had previously responded to the alleged threats from Mohammad by releasing a 1000-word screed to friends and business associates in July, when he referred to the restaurateur as a “dickhead” and “king maggot”.
Gatto has been subjected to threats.Credit: Jason South
“You make all these threats and ultimatums. I Mick Gatto in my nearly 70 years on this planet, I have never met a lower human being than you,” Gatto said in an SMS on July 20.
“If you come near my friends or family you will be dealt with you rat … I hate you with a passion for what you are trying to do.”
“You’re not worth going to jail for you dog,” Gatto said.
According to Gatto’s correspondence, the altercation was sparked by a disagreement over a loan made to Mohammad while he was a manager of the Waterfront restaurant in Port Melbourne.
“You said for 24 years I have stood over you. You poor imbecile. All I have ever done was try to help you with paying suppliers/rent/ATO/lawyers. Otherwise, they would not supply you or act for you and evict you,” according to the SMS sent by Gatto.
The 68-year-old underworld identity is familiar with alleged threats and was the target of several murder plots during Melbourne’s gangland wars between 1995 and 2006.
He famously shot and killed hitman and Carl Williams associate Benji Veniamin in what a jury ruled was an act of self-defence.
In 2011, career criminal Gavin Preston was intercepted by police in the CBD, which foiled a plan to kill Gatto later that day. Preston was shot dead last month outside a cafe on a quiet suburban shopping strip in Keilor Village.
There is no suggestion Gatto or Mohammad were involved in that shooting in any way.
Detectives from the Purana anti-gangland taskforce also warned Gatto in 2015 that his life was in danger after receiving intelligence about a conspiracy to have him killed by a Colombian crime gang.
When police discovered an unregistered sawn-off shotgun in the toilet of his Lower Plenty home in February 2016, Gatto’s lawyer later argued he needed the weapon because the Colombians had taken out a $200,000 contract on his life.
Barrister Sean Cash told the Heidelberg Magistrates Court that it was the threats against Gatto’s life and his alleged presence at the centre of murder plots that had resulted in the gun becoming a necessary precaution, albeit an illegal one.
“You can understand why he would have thought ‘I have to protect myself’,” Cash said at the time.
Gatto was fined $2500, but escaped a conviction.
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