YaY! Corrupt OZschwitz lawyer busted; Lied to scam cash, court told

A Sydney lawyer's claims that he was robbed and assaulted by masked bandits, who then stole and torched his father's car, were lies designed to net him thousands of dollars in insurance claims, a court has heard.

Liverpool-based solicitor Peter Maatouk told police in January last year that he had been tied up by the intruders who beat him over the head with a pistol and stole cash before setting fire to his Memorial Avenue office and fleeing in his father's BMW sedan. The vehicle was found burnt out in a nearby street.

However, police allege his entire story was a fabrication.

Today in the Downing Local Court Maatouk, of Merrylands, faced several charges, including that he made false representations resulting in a police investigation and obtaining money by deception.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Daniel McMahon said that charge related to the theft and subsequent burning of the BMW, which belonged to Maatouk's father, George.

"It is our belief that Mr Peter Maatouk has facilitated and participated in a false robbery in effect designed by himself to eliminate his father's car and subsequently that car had an insurance claim on it," Sergeant McMahon said.

An associate of Maatouk, Gary Elsaket, is also charged with intimidating a witness, knowingly making a false statement to police as well as being an accessory before the fact to Maatouk's alleged plans.

Last week Maatouk failed to have the hearing adjourned for at least six months while his wife Barbara undergoes aggressive treatment for bowel and liver cancer.

The court heard Maatouk was suffering from depression and anxiety under the strain of his wife's illness and the charges he faced.

He was also struggling to care for their five children, including quadruplets, aged under two and a half.

Police told the court that Elsaket recruited an associate, Necola Daves, to organise the fake robbery with the knowledge and authority of Maatouk.

The court heard that, during the staged robbery Maatouk allegedly directed the two masked robbers to take a $30,000 Picasso lithograph and a $20,000 photo of Peter Brock, which he claimed was the last photo signed before the racing legend died.

In the days after the robbery, an insurance claim for more than $113,000 was made for the BMW and was later paid to Maatouk's father.

The hearing, before magistrate David Armati, is expected to last 10 days.

LNK

YaY! Corrupt OZschwitz lawyer busted; Lied to scam cash, court told

YaY! Corrupt OZschwitz lawyer busted; Lied to scam cash, court told

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