Notorious Australian underworld figure arrested in Dubai

2 months ago 18

Notorious underworld figure Jay Malkoun has been arrested in Dubai as part of an investigation into an alleged extortion attempt.

The former head of the Comanchero bikie gang, who reinvented himself as a true crime memoirist in recent years, is being detained in the United Arab Emirates, according to three underworld sources.

Former bikie boss Amad “Jay” Malkoun pictured at a promotion for his book.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade declined to comment due to privacy restrictions.

“(DFAT) is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian who is reported to be detained in Dubai,” a departmental spokesperson said.

The arrest is the latest in a series of international crises for the 62-year-old, who narrowly survived a car bombing in Greece in 2019 and escaped Thailand after an associate was abducted and murdered there in 2015.

Malkoun, who allegedly stepped down from leading one of the most powerful bikie clubs in 2013, moved to Dubai where he “pursu(ed) international interests”, according to his 2024 memoir, The Consultant.

The site of the car bomb attack that injured Amad 'Jay' Malkoun in Glyfada, Athens.

Malkoun has an extensive criminal network across Asia and Europe, including Russia, where he established a Comanchero chapter.

In 1988, Malkoun was sentenced to a decade in prison for his role in trafficking $5.5 million worth of heroin between Melbourne and Perth.

Despite his conviction and criminal associations, Malkoun was allowed to live in the United Arab Emirates where he has close connections with the Gulf state’s royal family.

The relationship is apparently based on a mutual interest in racehorses, with a Dubai royal giving Malkoun an Arabian stallion as a gift.

Malkoun also became wealthy following a land play in Melbourne’s outer northern suburbs, which saw one of his companies sell a residential development site for $26 million.

His company, Trash Media, bought the 26-hectare property as a horse farm for $950,000 in 2009, and its value exploded after it was rezoned in 2017.

Malkoun returned to Melbourne in 2020 to seek specialist medical treatment after surviving a car bomb planted inside his Mercedes outside a gym in Athens, Greece. No one has ever been arrested over the attack.

Malkoun has received stem cell treatments at an inner Melbourne clinic for his injuries.

In publicity materials promoting The Consultant, Malkoun is described as: “Survivor of the Melbourne underworld wars, and 10 years in Australia’s most brutal prison. Nightclub enforcer and peacemaker. Strip-club mogul and incurable romantic. A family man of deep religious faith who is capable of extreme violence when pushed. A loving father and a loyal son.

“A negotiator of multi-million-dollar deals in both the boardroom and the backroom. The one-time leader of one of the most influential and powerful outlaw motorcycle clubs the world has ever seen – whose power extends across the globe.”

Malkoun’s publicist at Penguin Random House did not respond to a request for comment.

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