Firebombed business owner target of $1 million extortion ploy by bikies

Entrepreneur and life coach David Deicke is the target of a $1 million extortion plot by the leader of an outlaw motorcycle gang, who ordered the recent firebombing of two smash repair businesses controlled by the former boxer known as “Hollywood”.

The Age can reveal a notorious Melbourne bikie has also threatened to torch Deicke’s $10 million mansion in Brighton if he refuses to pay, according to two criminal sources who are not willing to be identified over safety concerns.

Victoria Police is also aware of the alleged standover racket and parked a mobile surveillance unit within 100 metres of Deicke’s home following the arson attacks on his businesses in Laverton and Mentone last week.

The 49-year-old businessman, who has refused to co-operate with investigators, has also been encouraged by police to relocate his wife and four children from the Brighton property.

The campaign of violence against Deicke began on July 18, when his business Melbourne Collision Repair Centre in Laverton was blasted with gunfire.

On July 30, several cars were torched at the same Laverton business on Triholm Avenue. A group of men were seen smashing car windows before setting them alight. One of the arsonists set himself on fire, according to witnesses.

In what police believe was a co-ordinated attack, police and emergency services were called to another blaze at the Melbourne Collision Repair Centre in Mentone. The blaze in the early hours of July 30 was sparked when a car fire at the property on the Nepean Highway spread to the business.

Both businesses, along with the Brighton family home, are owned by Deicke’s partner, Belinda Pitts, according to land title and corporate records.

Deicke did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Last week, he told The Age he did not know why the businesses had been targeted.

“I’ve got no idea, but I’m not the owner. We’ve got four young children, and we need to be left alone,” he said.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said it was “aware of threats allegedly made against a 49-year-old man from the Bayside area”.

“No report has been made to police,” the police spokeswoman said.

Deicke, who is a half-brother of five-time world champion boxer Lester Ellis, made his fortune from a string of smash repair businesses across Melbourne and Geelong before moving into property development, luxury car hire and hospitality.

He also offers life and business coaching, according to a website that promotes his diverse business interests.

“David Deicke is an embodiment of dedication, innovation, and entrepreneurial success,” the website states. “His journey, spanning over two decades, showcases a remarkable trajectory from a competitive boxer to a business innovator, and ultimately, a connoisseur of luxury.”

The latest extortion attempt on Deicke is not his first encounter with outlaw motorcycle gangs.

Deicke, who also uses the names David Ellis and David Becks, was stabbed twice by a member of the Finks gang in December 2010, following a dispute over the sale of a Range Rover to an associate of the gang.

At the time, he claimed he was the victim of a botched robbery. However, a Brighton car wash business he owned was then the target of two drive-by shootings before it was destroyed by fire.

“Someone came in here to rob the place, and I attacked him and got stabbed. The last thing I need is this plastered all over the paper,” Deicke told this masthead in April 2011.

In 2014, one of Deicke’s smash repairs businesses in Collingwood was the scene of a savage attack by late Comancheros enforcer Hawre Sherwani on another gang member over an alleged debt. Sherwani was murdered in January, after serving four years in prison for the brutal assault.

In November 2023, Deicke was charged by federal police over the importation of 120 kilograms of liquid cocaine found inside 600 wine bottles that arrived from South Africa in 2018.

At a bail hearing in 2023, Deicke’s lawyers urged a magistrate to release their client so he could focus on his business interests and make monthly repayments of $50,000 on his Brighton home.

He was granted bail and will face a committal hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court next month. His lawyers have indicated he intends to fight the charges.

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