Man fighting for life after machete attack at car wash owned by notorious swindler

3 months ago 16

A Doreen man is fighting for life after he was slashed with a machete in a daylight attack at an Essendon car wash business owned by a notorious luxury car swindler.

The victim, 43, arrived at Elite Car Wash on Mount Alexander Road on Thursday morning, when he was ambushed by a man wearing a balaclava and armed with a machete.

The Essendon car wash where a man was attacked with a machete.

The victim sustained life-threatening injuries after he was slashed on the hand and then again on the upper body while trying to flee. He was taken to hospital in a critical condition, where he remains.

Police have asked media not to name the hospital for the man’s safety, as it is believed the incident is a targeted attack.

The car wash business is linked to luxury car swindler Andrew Triantafyllos, who has been the target of up to a dozen arson attacks and drive-by shooting incidents over the past two years.

In May, a black ute reversed through LaLa Nails – an Essendon nail salon also linked to Triantafyllos – in the early hours of the morning, smashing the front doors and causing significant damage to the building.

Andrew Triantafyllos appears at VCAT in November 2018.

The vehicle was spray-painted with the words “pay ur tick you fat dog”.

Triantafyllos, who also uses the names Andy and Jason and switches his surname to Trianafyllou or Triantos, has been approached for comment.

The 48-year-old was declared bankrupt in 2018 after repeatedly refusing to pay dozens of creditors – including $5.8 million to the Australian Taxation Office – by placing his debt-laden companies into liquidation, transferring assets and opening new businesses.

Since 2004, he has often used “straw directors” – including his elderly mother and a former exotic dancer from Kittens Strip Club – to conceal his involvement from corporate regulators.

His company Supercar Garage, which was registered by a company linked to Triantafyllos’ mother, Chrysoula Coutlakis, collapsed in 2019 owing almost $283,000 to more than a dozen customers.

A liquidator’s report identified potential “illegal phoenix activity” at Supercar Garage, along with other possible criminal offences and breaches of the Corporations Act.

Triantafyllos has operated multiple businesses from behind the scenes, including Dream Drives Melbourne in Richmond.

When Dream Drives was placed into liquidation, it was accused of withholding deposits worth $481,000 from 22 customers, while also failing to pay $296,000 to a vehicle owner.

One disgruntled client engaged former Comanchero enforcer Hasan Topal to recoup their debt. The notorious bikie, who is now on remand in a Turkish prison, punched an employee in the face over a $20,000 deposit that had been withheld.

Topal was convicted of the assault, which left the victim with a fractured eye socket.

Detectives are appealing to anyone who was in the area at the time of the attack on Thursday who might have been driving past and may have dashcam or CCTV vision to come forward.

In May, the state government banned the sale of machetes.

The possession of machetes was banned on September 1, and knife disposal bins were set up outside police stations.

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