The Ibrahim brothers were once the lifeblood of Kings Cross, but their ventures into Sydney nightlife led some of them down the dark path into Sydney’s underworld.
John Ibrahim is infamous in the Kings Cross scene, with multiple night clubs and properties in his name. Despite decades of suspicion surrounding John’s alleged involvement with organised crime, it’s his brothers who have since seen the inside of a cell.
So where are they now?
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Humble beginnings
John and his three brothers – Sam, Fadi, and Michael – emigrated to Sydney from Lebanon as young children.
John made his first foray into nightclubs when he was just 19, but he wasn’t the only early starter.
Sam became the first Lebanese-Australian to join an Aussie bikie club, and was elected president of the Granville chapter of the Nomads Motorcycle club in 1997.
Both John and Sam soon became embroiled in suspected criminal activity. John was described as the “lifeblood of the drugs industry of Kings Cross” during the Woods royal commission in 1955, and Sam’s Granville chapter became a powerful criminal organisation.
The early 2000’s saw a string of charges against the brothers, but nearly all were either dropped or resulted in acquittal.
Sam was acquitted of drug charges relating to the Nomads in the late ‘90s, as well as assaults and kidnapping charges in 2004 and 2009, respectively.
John escaped conviction on charges relating to extortion and threatening witnesses – during the latter trial it was revealed that the police had over 546 intelligence reports relating to John’s alleged involvement with organised crime.
In 2006 the NSW Crime Commission temporarily seized his assets over suspicions of criminal activity, but this was dropped after John paid $150,000 to the state to settle the matter.
Michael and Fadi were also acquitted of a murder conspiracy charge from 2009, though Michael served six years for an unrelated manslaughter charge.
Hear more about the Ibrahim brothers’ histories on this episode of Community Noticeboard
Where are the Ibrahim brothers now?
Sam served a nine year sentence for running an illegal arms-dealing syndicate across Sydney in 2018.
Upon his release, then Immigration-minster Peter Dutton planned to deport Sam back to Lebanon, alleging he had never become an Australian citizen.
Sam spent three years in a Western Australian detention centre, before the 2023 High Court ruling on indefinite detention saw his release back to Sydney.
In 2017 Michael and Fadi, along with other members of the Ibrahim family, were arrested in Dubai over an international drug and tobacco racket.
Fadi narrowly escaped prison time, receiving a suspended sentence for receiving proceeds of a crime. Michael, however, pleaded guilty to direct involvement in the scheme, and is currently serving a 30 year sentence.
John remains unscathed, and now divides his time between his Eastern Suburbs mansions and the television set for The Last King of the Cross: the Stan Original series adapted from his autobiography.
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