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A man accused of running an illegal tobacco business across Western Australia may have his latest bid for freedom heard behind closed doors after prosecutors argued they did not want crucial evidence to be heard publicly in case it compromised their investigation.
Maytham Hamad, 31, was arrested last week and charged with knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime to the value of more than $1 million, between February and September this year.
Maytham Hamad leaving Perth Magistrates Court in June 2025.
The Perth-based brother of now-exiled Victorian “tobacco king” Kazem Hamad had his luxury cars seized after a police raid on his apartment in the well-heeled southern riverside suburb of Mount Pleasant and has been locked up in Hakea Prison since.
On Monday, he made a bid for freedom in Perth Magistrates Court, but it was adjourned because his lawyers wanted to challenge the evidence against him via the cross-examination of a Victorian police officer.
Prosecutors also argued the hearing should be heard in secret because they did not want revelations in court to “compromise ongoing investigations”.
A decision on closing the court will be decided next week.
In August this year, Police Commissioner Col Blanch revealed he believed Kazem Hamad was trying to expand his monopoly of the illicit tobacco trade to WA, following firebombings and shootings at several Perth stores.
Police allege Kazem is calling the shots from the Middle East after being deported from Australia in 2023. Despite his eviction, more than 150 tobacco store-related fire bombings have occurred in Melbourne over the past year, which police believe are linked to the gangland boss.
Kazem’s younger brother Maytham moved to Perth in 2022.
There has been a recent escalation in violence against tobacco businesses in Perth, with similarities to the Melbourne turf wars that have seen firebombings of commercial premises selling cheap, illegally imported cigarettes a common occurrence.
In August, two tobacco businesses in Perth were set on fire. Others have been shot at. In October last year, a man was allegedly caught on CCTV cameras smashing into a tobacco store in Midland before allegedly setting the place on fire.
The fire at a Midland tobacco shop.Credit: 9 News Perth
And another tobacco shop in Midland was damaged by fire on Sunday night, with police treating it as suspicious.
Maytham is not accused of having any involvement in those incidents.
A police statement released last week stated Maytham was charged as a part of a joint investigation by WA and Victorian police forces named “Operation Charger”, following extensive inquiries into his alleged activities across WA, Victoria and NSW.
Police accuse him of operating a “commercial-scale” operation running dirty money and illicit tobacco across three states while helping run a family crime syndicate.
Maytham allegedly ran the enterprise through the stores, moving illicit tobacco profits interstate, and generating large cash sums through cash-only sales, using nominee accounts, encrypted messaging and postal deliveries, police said.
They allegedly intercepted nine packages that contained about $1.7 million between August and September, they allege.
It is alleged a further 45 parcels sent to Victoria contained more than $8 million, with each holding between $155,000 and $220,000.
Maytham will be back before Perth Magistrates Court on Monday, December 1.
with Hannah Murphy and Jamie Freestone
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