# Former bikie boss Sayed Moosawi directed ‘James Bond’ arson attacks in Bondi, court hears

NSW police allege Moosawi directed two men who have pleaded guilty to setting the Curly Lewis brewery on fire in October 2024. He has denied all charges

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A former bikie boss is among 14 people charged this week over a wave of alleged antisemitic attacks in  that authorities claim were designed to distract police from organised crime or influence prosecutions.

On Tuesday, 32-year-old Sayed Moosawi, a former chapter president of the Nomad bikies, pleaded not guilty to three charges related to two alleged arson attacks on businesses in Bondi Beach in October.

Moosawi was charged with knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group – with court documents showing police would allege it was “organised and ongoing”.

He was also charged with being an accessory before the fact in relation to alleged arson attacks on Curly Lewis brewery and Lewis’ Continental Kitchen.

Police allege that Moosawi directed two men who earlier this year pleaded guilty and were convicted for setting the brewery on fire on 17 October 2024, court documents show.

Guy Finnegan, then 31, and Craig Bantoft, then 37, had taken directions from a person referred to in an encrypted messaging app as “James Bond”, court documents in their matter stated.

The Bond figure had accused the pair of botching the arson attack, leading Bantoft to ask Finnegan in a message whether or not Bond would still pay them.

The deli was subsequently damaged by fire on 20 October 2024. Moosawi did not apply for bail on Tuesday in Waverley local court and it was formally refused.

New South Wales police announced on Tuesday they had charged 14 people with 65 offences relating to alleged antisemitic incidents across Sydney’s east in recent months.

Federal and NSW police announced on Monday that a caravan found in January on the outskirts of Sydney containing explosives and a list of Jewish targets was a “fake terrorism plot”.

Police alleged the “caravan job” and other antisemitic graffiti and arson attacks across Sydney were part of a campaign orchestrated by a senior organised crime figure “pulling the strings”.

That person had not been arrested, federal police deputy commissioner Krissy Barrett said on Monday. An “AFP operational strategy is in place to take action against this individual”.

None of the people arrested on Monday and charged by Tuesday were linked to the caravan incident and none had displayed any antisemitic ideology, the NSW police deputy commissioner David Hudson said.

Police alleged the “con job” was fabricated to divert resources away from organised crime and to create plots that incarcerated criminals could use to tip off law enforcement to reduce their sentences.

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