A former bikie boss is among 14 people charged this week over a wave of alleged antisemitic attacks in Sydney that authorities claim were designed to distract police from organised crime or influence prosecutions.
On Tuesday, 32-year-old Sayed Moosawi, a former chapter president of the Nomad bikies, pleaded not guilty to three charges related to two alleged arson attacks on businesses in Bondi Beach in October.
Moosawi was charged with knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group – with court documents showing police would allege it was “organised and ongoing”.
He was also charged with being an accessory before the fact in relation to alleged arson attacks on Curly Lewis brewery and Lewis’ Continental Kitchen.
Police allege that Moosawi directed two men who earlier this year pleaded guilty and were convicted for setting the brewery on fire on 17 October 2024, court documents show.
Guy Finnegan, then 31, and Craig Bantoft, then 37, had taken directions from a person referred to in an encrypted messaging app as “James Bond”, court documents in their matter stated.
The Bond figure had accused the pair of botching the arson attack, leading Bantoft to ask Finnegan in a message whether or not Bond would still pay them.
The deli was subsequently damaged by fire on 20 October 2024. Moosawi did not apply for bail on Tuesday in Waverley local court and it was formally refused.
New South Wales police announced on Tuesday they had charged 14 people with 65 offences relating to alleged antisemitic incidents across Sydney’s east in recent months.
Federal and NSW police announced on Monday that a caravan found in January on the outskirts of Sydney containing explosives and a list of Jewish targets was a “fake terrorism plot”.
Police alleged the “caravan job” and other antisemitic graffiti and arson attacks across Sydney were part of a “con job” orchestrated by a senior organised crime figure “pulling the strings”.
That person had not been arrested, federal police deputy commissioner Krissy Barrett said on Monday. An “AFP operational strategy is in place to take action against this individual”.
None of the people arrested on Monday and charged by Tuesday were linked to the caravan incident and none had displayed any antisemitic ideology, the NSW police deputy commissioner David Hudson said.
Police alleged the “con job” was fabricated to divert resources away from organised crime and to create plots that incarcerated criminals could use to tip off law enforcement to reduce their sentences.
Guardian Australia understands authorities believe there is one individual at the top of a chain of command.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, defended calling the caravan plot “terrorism” when it was first revealed in late January after police on Monday said investigators realised “almost immediately” that the plot was not a possible mass casualty event.
“Based on all that information, the attacks that happened prior to and after the discovery of the caravan, it would have been negligent not to take this incredibly seriously,” the premier said on Tuesday.
The 13 other people arrested on Monday and subsequently charged include:
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Two men, 18 and 20, respectively, who were allegedly involved in providing vehicles used during an arson attack on a childcare centre in Maroubra on 21 January 2025. They were charged with participating in a criminal group.
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A 33-year-old man who allegedly spray-painted graffiti on motor vehicles and properties in Randwick and Kingsford on 2 February 2025. He was charged with two counts of intentionally damaging property in company, larceny and driving while disqualified.
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A 25-year-old man and a 23-year-old man accused of spray-painting graffiti on motor vehicles and properties in Queens Park on 11 January 2025. They were both charged with participating in a criminal group, damaging property, intending criminal activity of a group and being carried in a conveyance.
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A 40-year-old man who allegedly spray-painted graffiti at a school in Maroubra, a shopping centre at Eastgardens and a home at Eastlakes. His charges include driving a motor vehicle during disqualification period, taking and driving conveyance without consent of owner and participating in a criminal group.
