Two brothers accused of importing and selling counterfeit luxury goods and converting them into a $10m empire are forbidden from seeing each other after they were granted strict bail.
Siblings Ahmad Kase Siddiqi, 30, and Ahmad Jawade Siddiqi, 33, were released from custody on Friday after spending two nights behind bars on remand at Amber Laurel Correctional Centre at Emu Plains.
Their co-accused and close friend, Shadi Skaf, 30, was also bailed. Each man was granted bail on a $50,000 surety.
About a dozen of the trio’s anxious relatives packed the gallery of Parramatta Local Court to hear the case and erupted in a brief applause when the decision was announced.
Police allege the young entrepreneurs have imported about 1500 consignments of counterfeit goods from China and Hong Kong since late 2017, which were on-sold to Australian customers via Instagram and TikTok.
The goods include flashy watches, designer clothing, knock-off sneakers and fashion house handbags, which police claim were set up in the homes “like a department store”.
“It was a very professional outfit,” Detective Superintendent Peter Faux said.
According to police, an analysis of bank accounts connected to the brothers and Skaf reveal they made $9.2m in proceeds from the sale of counterfeit goods – almost $5m of which it is alleged was pure profit.
It will not be alleged in court that the trio deceived customers about the authenticity of the luxury goods, but instead that their activity in selling the fake items amounted to criminal conduct, and therefore the money they earned from the sales was the proceeds of crime.
Police further allege the men flaunted their considerable wealth on the purchase of genuine luxury goods and high end cars, including a $1m purple Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, a McLaren 765LT and a black Porsche 991 Carrera.
The trio was arrested on Wednesday and faced court on Thursday, where their respective legal teams applied for their release on bail.
Kase and Skaf are being represented by barrister Philip Strickland SC and solicitor Talal Krayem.
Both barristers argued the cases against their clients were not strong on the facts before the court, which failed to identify what “crime” the men had committed so as to make the money the proceeds of such activity.
After reserving her decision until Friday, Magistrate Emma Manea described the crown case as moderately strong but said she was not satisfied with the defence team’s original bail condition proposed, requiring the men to report daily to police stations.
She ordered the trio to instead report twice a day to their closest police stations.
“It’s not for negotiation,’’ Ms Manea said.
“I’m the person that takes the risk to let these three individuals out in the community.
“You’ve had a very real taste of what it’s like to be in custody and I will think you’ve been fortunate to have the bail application (granted) and you will comply with it.’’
Under the terms of the orders, Jawade and Kase are banned from contacting each other.
“I accept they are brothers but there is an ongoing investigation,’’ Ms Manea said, acknowledging it would be onerous for them but it was appropriate for the investigation and would ensure evidence was not contaminated.
The trio must not depart the country, cannot use more than one mobile phone and are forbidden from using social media including WhatsApp.
The cases will return to court in August.
