Cheng death accused grilled for phone code

Secretive NSW crime-fighters grilled Talal Alameddine about a Blackberry code, a bicycle and a black satchel bag, court documents reveal.

The case is ongoing

File. Source: AAP

In the days after NSW Police accountant Curtis Cheng was gunned down in western Sydney, investigators wanted answers about a Blackberry, a bicycle and a black satchel bag, court documents reveal.

Merrylands man Talal Alameddine, 23, was charged late last year with supplying the revolver that schoolboy killer Farhad Jabar allegedly used to shoot Mr Cheng dead as he left work on October 2, 2015.

The 15-year-old was killed in the ensuing shoot-out with special police constables on the steps of the NSW Police force's Parramatta headquarters.

Alameddine is also facing charges of breaching a firearms prohibition order, hindering the discovery of evidence, and knowingly participating in a criminal group.

The young man launched a Supreme Court battle last year in a bid to stop the NSW Crime Commission from forcing him to answer certain questions, but the nature of those questions have only now been revealed, after officers from the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team charged Alameddine with 20 counts of refusing to answer questions under the state's Crime Commission act.

Documents in the resulting criminal case suggest that the grilling before the secretive criminal intelligence agency took place on the afternoon of October 7, hours after counter-terrorism police swooped on Alameddine's home.

It is alleged the 23-year-old refused to be drawn on his dealings with two men, Mustafa Dirani and Raban Alou, who have both been charged over their alleged roles in Mr Cheng's death.

Among the questions Alameddine is said to have failed or refused to answer were: "What is the pass code to the Blackberry?", "Who owns the Blackberry?" and "What is the pass code to the iPad?"

The accused man was also asked about the ownership of a bicycle and the contents of a black satchel bag, the documents now before Sydney's Central Local Court state.

Alameddine is yet to enter a plea in relation to the fresh charges, and the matter is due to return to court next month.


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Source: AAP



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