Arabic version: إسقاط تهمة ابتزاز بحق مندوب سابق في نقابة «سي إف إم إي يو»

According to ABC News, Victorian prosecutors have withdrawn a blackmail charge against former CFMEU delegate Joel Leavitt, who was instead fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to two other offences.

Leavitt had been accused of blackmailing a business owner for $663,000 in January. The charge, which carried a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, was withdrawn during a Thursday hearing. Blackmail charges were also dropped against co-accused Thomas Sheehan, Emin Mehmedovic, Napoleon Brown and Jared Davis.

Magistrate Donna Bakos convicted Leavitt for failing to provide his phone PIN code to police and for engaging in debt collection while prohibited from doing so. An assault conviction in 2023 meant he could not work as a debt collector.

Leavitt and others were arrested by Taskforce Hawk, the Victoria Police squad investigating corruption in the building sector. Police previously described Leavitt as a patched Bandidos member. He was also named in a report to Queensland’s Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU concerning alleged criminal history, gang links and involvement in Victoria’s construction industry.

The court heard Leavitt and several men met Cedar Meats chief executive Jason Hopp at the Brooklyn abattoir over debts linked to a land development project. Defence barrister Christopher Terry said Leavitt had not been threatening or violent, while the prosecutor said Hopp was terrified by the encounter.