Page 1317 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 16 April 1991
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Gajic also traded with Adivi Trading Nominees Pty Ltd, one of its directors being Bruce "Snapper" Cornwall. Cornwall was described as a drug baron by Justice Stewart at the Australian inquiry into drugs in 1985 and was convicted in 1988 for selling heroin. Cornwall is currently serving a long gaol sentence. Barry Bull, Cornwall's associate in the drug ring, is also in gaol after receiving a long gaol term on drug charges. Alexander Gajic confessed to dealing in both marijuana and heroin in testimony to the Woodward commission. Gajic was not charged for drug dealing offences as a result of his admissions. Evidence given before a royal commission cannot be used to convict the witness giving it.
Together with Joseph David Shellim, Gajic operated a web of companies which dealt in pornography across Australia. These companies included Curbydex Pty Ltd, Mr X-video, and Hollywood House Video. Joseph Shellim and his brother Freddie initially operated Hollywood House Video in Melbourne, but now they and Hollywood House Video are based in Sydney. The Victorian office of Curbydex Pty Ltd, which, as we have seen, was operated by Gajic and Shellim, was located in Bay Street, Brighton at premises owned by Esmond Mooseek. Mooseek is serving a life sentence as a major drug dealer.
Gajic's companies spread until TAG Video - a company named after the initial letters of Todor and Alexander Gajic - was used to distribute pornographic videos supplied by the Mafia operated video company VCX, the president of which, as we have seen, was Norman Arno. Organised crime figures in the United States and Australia have been able to put on a face of respectability by using the proceeds of criminal activities to buy into legitimate businesses. This gives them the opportunity to launder money and also to hide illegal activities behind a facade of legitimacy.
Organised crime in Australia has created an interlocking series of companies to provide a corporate shell to dispose of illegal money by shuffling it backwards and forwards through fake invoices and borrowings until it gets lost in the paper trail. This was outlined by Mr Douglas Meagher, senior counsel assisting the Costigan royal commission, when he spoke at the Law Reform Commission conference in Perth. In addition, corrupt bank managers and pliant accountants and legal firms have greatly assisted organised crime in Australia.
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