Australian public sector found with gangland members

Bamboo Ocean Army21 SG

REBELS bikie gang members have infiltrated "positions of trust" in up to 20 federal and state government departments, including the Department of Defence and ASIC.

Officers attached to Taskforce Attero, run by the Australian Crime Commission, have discovered Rebels members and associates with a "foothold" in government ranks.

The revelations follow a top-to-bottom analysis of the Rebels gang by the ACC.

The names of more than 2000 members and associates across the country including wives, girlfriends, friends, prospective members and nominees for the group were put through databases to identify their work and business history, migration status and tax records.

Attero senior investigator John De Candia and ACC New South Wales manager Warren Gray, said a small but significant number of people were red-flagged as part of the exercise. "We are exposing Rebels and their associates in many positions of trust right across society which are there for the advantage for the group," he said.

"We're working with a whole lot of internal investigation sections of those departments."

Supt De Candia, who has been leading the taskforce, said several government agencies had moved to fix their vulnerabilities.

It is understood up to 20 departments are talking with the ACC about specific employees who are active or linked to the club.

"I'm not saying in every case their employment is tainted but, make no mistake they're not stupid and they will strategically look at different areas and people so they can get positioned," he said.

"They might not talk to that person about anything to do with the Rebels, but when the time is right ... they might only need a tiny skerrick of information which will be sufficient, but that gives them a foothold into that department."

The cases mirror that of Hells Angels chapter president Derek Wainohu, who, in 2009, was outed as having worked for two decades with the former RTA.

Another associate, a former NSW police officer, was removed from the force after being found guilty of selling cocaine and ecstasy to an undercover officer in 2010.

A senior Rebel said the police attention was based on unfounded claims of criminality.

He said most Rebels members adhered to strict club rules, did not break the law and were good people with ordinary jobs. The bad eggs were rarely patched members of the club, he said..

"They're associates they're someone who knows someone, they're not part of our club," the member said.

"There's a lot of guys out there who name drop and that's our biggest problem."

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