17.01.2010

Melbourne crane owner investigated

Crane owner, former heavyweight boxer and ‘ex’ member of the Melbourne underworld Mick Gatto is yet again being investigated, this time by the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), for allegedly assaulting two contractors for not using his company’s cranes.
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Mick Gatto

Gatto owns and runs Brooklyn based Elite Cranes along with colleague Matt Tomas, the company emerged from the ashes of Sydney crane and scaffolding company, TJF, after it failed in 2003 owing millions. Tomas was the company’s Melbourne manager and is a party to the investigation. The two could face fines of up to $110,000 if found guilty of coercion under workplace laws. Assault and extortion are criminal charges.

Gatto and Tomas have strongly denied any involvement in the alleged attacks, which are said to have taken place at a restaurant in Lygon Street in mid December.

According to local newspaper reports based on eye witness reports, the two alleged victims, including a director of LU Simon a major contractor and Frank Cicerale of Eltrax also a contractor were summoned to the meeting, ordered to remove jewellery and switch off their mobile phones before being frisked by Tomas for listening devices. They were then beaten and threatened if demands for $1 million each in compensation were not paid.
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One of Elite's smart black cranes

The cause of the misunderstanding was LU Simon's decision to appoint Eltrax as a subcontractor on a number of its projects where it used its own cranes, thus breaching or circumventing a five year contract that LU Simon apparently has with Elite Cranes.

The LU Simon director and Tomas deny there was any meeting or assault, while Cicerale confirmed the pre-Christmas meeting over a ‘misunderstanding’ concerning the use of cranes on its building sites, he denies that he was assaulted.

A spokesman for the ABCC said: ''The ABCC has commenced an investigation and has been in discussion with Victoria Police. At this time, it is not appropriate to comment on the nature of the ongoing investigation or the discussions with Victoria Police.

Gatto, 54, does not deny his ‘previous’ involvement with the Melbourne underworld and organised crime. The son of Calabrian immigrants, he has been the subject of numerous investigations following his acquittal from murder charges in 2004. He spent 14 months in jail for the shooting of hit man Andrew Veniamin, but successfully defended himself on the grounds of self defence.

Brooklyn based Elite Cranes runs a fleet of modern mobiles, all of which are painted black, they range from a 2.5 tonne Maeda spider crane up to a 300 tonne Grove GMK6300 All Terrain.