A former Rebels boss has dropped a major bombshell at his proceeds of crime trial, claiming assassinated ex-State president Nick Martin was suspected of stealing club money to pay for extravagant home upgrades.
Aaron Karl Labrook also testified at his Perth Magistrates Court trial on Tuesday that Martin was asked to step down as State president weeks before he was assassinated in a sniper-style attack at Perth Motorplex in December 2020.
Mr Labrook was charged after police pulled over his BMW in Ridgewood on the afternoon of December 28, 2022 and found $207,850 on the back seat.
They also found $247,700 at the Ascot house of his co-accused Kellie Kersley after she was stopped while driving in Belmont hours later.
Both seizures were bundles of cash in vaccum-sealed plastic bags in Pelican-type cases, totalling $455,550.
Fighting two counts of possessing stolen or unlawfully obtained property, Mr Labrook was first questioned by his barrister Christian Porter.
Mr Labook, 54, testified that the money was club funds from legitimately collected sources and said the outlaw motorcycle gang strengthened the way it handled its finances after Martin’s reign.
He said “all the members, all chapters” were dissatisfied with Martin solely handling the club’s cash, collected from weekly membership fees, from the sale of motorbikes, and from alcohol sales at parties and clubhouse bars — even sausage sizzles.
Mr Labrook, who was State sergeant at arms for more than a decade before the murder, told the court that Martin’s bank had closed his accounts “so he wanted everyone to start paying cash”.
Disquiet emerged when it was suspected club cash had gone “missing” or into renovations at his big house, Mr Labrook said.
“He wasn’t transparent back then, bit more of a dictatorship,” he said.
“People weren’t happy.
“Basically Nick took care of everything. No one really knew. That was the problem.’
Mr Labrook said he accordingly approached Martin two to three months before his death and asked him to stand down.
“We sat for four to five hours and it got pretty hectic at the start,” he testified.
Martin was initially angry but relinquished his leadership about six weeks before he was fatally shot, Mr Labrook said.
He then took the helm and said that as a solution to the financial governance concerns, an executive committee was formed, backed by members in a consultation.
Mr Labrook said the Rebels’ State treasurer handled the collecting of club cash, which would be used for legal fees and sometimes buying property, and records were kept.
“Whenever there was a sum of $10,000-20,000 … we’d count it up, verify it, seal it,” Mr Labrook said.
“We didn’t have bank accounts so it went into the safe at home.”
Mr Labrook said he would package it but the counting was always done with at least one other Rebel present, usually the Treasurer.
Asked why the money was kept in vacuum-sealed bags with the amount written on the exterior, he said it kept the cash dry and unable to be skimmed.
“People stealing or taking off the top.”
But when personal problems emerged in his family — with his partner suffering post-natal depression and threatening to set the cash alight — it was stored elsewhere to keep it safe.
Cash was then passed to Ms Kersley, who was a trusted family friend.
And when the treasurer needed $100,000-$200,000 to pay legal fees, Mr Labrook asked Ms Kersley to bring some to a meeting at Casa Blanca restaurant in Mount Hawthorn.
It was a convenient location as it was near a homewares store he co-owned with the mother of his partner, where he was selling some items to a family friend while the shop was closed over the Christmas break, Mr Labrook testified.
After the meeting, police swooped.
“It wasn’t stolen. It was club money,” Mr Labrook said.
“And it wasn’t unlawfully obtained. I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.”
The court was also told that membership fees went up as a consortium of clubs including the Rebels created a fighting fund to challenge WA’s tough new anti-gang laws.
The trial continues.
