- Balenciaga Bikie, Tarek Zahed, is hit with a serious crime prevention order
- The Supreme Court ruling forbids him from returning to New South Wales
- Zahed fled to Lebanon in September and can only return under strict conditions
- Police prosecutors laid out his violent criminal history as a Comanchero boss
An Australian bikie boss who fled the country for Lebanon has been banned from returning to New South Wales unless he ditches Comanchero colours, hands over his phones and tells police of his arrival.
The Supreme Court ruled the man known as the ‘Balenciaga Bikie’, Tarek Zahed, poses an ongoing threat of carrying out serious offences and granted police a crime prevention order.
As part of the case, prosecutors revealed the 41-year-old’s violent rise to the top of the outlaw motorcycle gang and outlined his long list of heinous crimes.
Tarek Zahed (pictured being extradited from Melbourne to Sydney in March, 2021) was hit with a crime prevention order
Tarek Zahed (pictured being extradited from Melbourne to Sydney in March, 2021) is now banned from returning to NSW after he fled to Lebanon in September
The Balenciaga Bikie’s life of crime:
1995: Tarek Zahed was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, resisting arrest and assaulting police.
2001: Police charged Zahed after he used a dog to attack someone. He spent eight months in periodic detention.
2004: Zahed spent five years behind bars after stomping on a man’s skull over a drug feud. The victim suffered brain damage.
2009: Zahed becomes a hang-around of the Comanchero bikie club.
2011: A wild running street battle saw multiple men stabbed and Zahed’s associate shot with a nail gun before the Balenciaga Bikie fired four bullets from a moving car hitting a man in the ear and shoulder.
He was sentenced to eight years prison, with a non parole period of five years.
2012: Zahed became a fully patched member of the Comancheros.
2020: Police are made aware that Zahed is now the national Sergeant At Arms of the outlaw motorcycle club.
Zahed is convicted for dealing with the proceeds of crime after withdrawing thousands of dollars hidden in family member’s bank accounts.
2021: He is caught on camera at Barangaroo in Sydney punching a man.
Zahed leaves Australia for Lebanon.
Source: NSW Supreme Court records
Gang experts revealed last month how he committed offences that included bashing officers in 1995, setting an attack dog on someone in 2001, causing a man brain damage after stomping on his skull during a drug deal in 2004 and shooting a rival gang member in the ear after the man shot his associate with a nail gun in 2011.
The court also heard how the bikie, known for his love of designer clothes, has also been convicted of fraud related charges after withdrawing thousands of dollars hidden in family member’s bank accounts in 2020.
Police said Zahed is now the national Sergeant at Arms of the Comancheros club and is tasked with dishing out violence.
‘The Sergeant at Arms is responsible for the discipline of members and formulating and co-ordinating attacks on rival OMCGs during times of conflict,’ Justice Natalie Adams said, The Daily Telegraph reported.
‘Zahed’s longstanding association with and involvement in the Comanchero OMCG, his seniority within the group and his lengthy history of violent offending leads me to conclude that he is likely to continue to be involved in serious criminal activity.’
As a result of the ruling, Zahed is banned from entering NSW unless he follows a long list of restrictions.
He first must give police 24 hours notice before he arrives and can only use one phone registered in his name that is not fitted with any encrypted apps.
Zahed is required to nominate which car he drives and ‘cannot modify it to hide guns, drugs or cash’.
The bikie boss is also not allowed to don his beloved Comanchero colours or wear any jewellery which features bikie symbols – like the notorious 1 per cent ring – and cannot associate with any OMCG members.
Any breach of these conditions will be him arrested and placed in custody.
The Comanchero enforcer, who is regularly seen wearing high-end designer clothing, once told journalists outside of court he wanted the record to state about one of his offences.
Tarek Zahed (centre), 40, is seen on CCTV at exclusive restaurant, a’Mare, in the Sydney casino the night he was captured attacking a man in 2021
Zahed was caught in a heated argument with a man before striking him across the face
He then said he was wearing a Versace shirt and not Gucci as some stories wrongly depicted.
In another high-profile incident at the at the swanky a’Mare restaurant, in Sydney’s Barangaroo casino, CCTV footage captured Zahed punching another man in the bathroom.
During the assault on this occasion, he was wearing a Balenciaga shirt.
The leadership of the Comancheros remains murky after crime king pin Mark Buddle fled Australia several years ago, leaving Ali Bazzi in charge as national president.
But Bazzi was slapped with a similar court order to Zahed in September – the same time when the Sergeant At Arms left the country.
It is not known who is in charge of the infamous club at the moment.
