January 13

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

January 13, 2000

Court told of Crowe blackmail plot
By Stephen Gibbs

A part-owner of Darlinghurst night club Rogues allegedly conspired to extort up to $200,000 from Russell Crowe to stop a tape showing the actor in a bar brawl being given to police and media.

Phillip Antony Cropper, 35, and another man tried to enlist South Sydney rugby league coach Craig Coleman and player-manager Sam Ayoub to make the demand of Crowe, a court heard yesterday.

Crowe, star of LA Confidential and The Insider, was involved in a scuffle at the Saloon Bar in Coffs Harbour about 3.30am on November 18. After the fight, police made five unsuccessful attempts to obtain security video footage of the incident.

According to a statement tendered to Central Local Court, the owners of the Saloon Bar, Malcolm Mercer, 37, and Mark Potts, 42, deliberately withheld the tape.

Instead, Mercer allegedly contacted Cropper to discuss approaching Crowe with a demand for money.

At the time, Cropper had been the subject of a separate police inquiry, and his mobile telephone was being tapped.

In one recorded conversation, Mercer allegedly told Cropper he intended asking Crowe for $200,000 to dispose of the tape.

On November 22, according to the statement, Mercer was recorded telling Cropper they should ask Coleman to contact Rabbitoh fanatic Crowe about the tape.

The same night Cropper had left a message on the answering machine of Ayoub, whom he had known for 10 years. Cropper said he wanted to contact Crowe, "as Crowe has some dramas, and a mate has a video he might want to purchase".

In another conversation, Cropper had told Mercer that Crowe had enough money to pay $45,000 for a bell at an auction to raise money for Souths.

On November 24, Mercer had called Cropper and again stated he wanted to sell the tape to American media. "It'll certainly ruin his f---in' credibility," Mercer said. "I should ring CNN, shouldn't I?"

The same morning Cropper had left another message for Ayoub suggesting Crowe should "put his hand in his pocket and f---in' buy it". "If he can pay 40 grand for a f---in' bell ... he'll be wanting to pay 40 grand for a tape of him biting someone's face and f---in' punching a sheila."

In a return call, Ayoub had given Cropper the mobile number of Coleman. Cropper had immediately called Coleman and told him to contact Crowe. Coleman was reticent. "The last thing a bloke wants to do is f---in' end up with CNN buying the c--- or something like that, you know what I mean?" Cropper said.

That day Mercer had called Ben Fordham, a producer with Channel Nine's A Current Affair, and Andy Byrne, chief of staff of The Daily Telegraph.

According to the statement, Fordham gave Mercer a sum of money for exclusive use of the tape, and a Telegraph reporter handed over $6,000 for four stills. The next day the Telegraph ran the pictures and a story quoting Mercer saying: "The tape shows that Russell was completely in the wrong ... and he won't be welcome here anymore."

Cropper, who has a $250,000 interest in Rogues, is charged with conspiring to extort, conspiring to pervert justice and conspiring to hinder an investigation.

Cropper's barrister, Mr Robert Somosi, said his client would deny attempting to do anything criminal.

The magistrate, Mr Derek Price, granted bail on several conditions, including that $100,000 be deposited as security and that Cropper live at his Surfers Paradise apartment.

Mercer has been charged with the same offences as Cropper, and Potts with conspiring to pervert justice and conspiring to hinder an investigation. They will appear in Coffs Harbour Local Court on February 14.

Source: The Daily Telegraph

January 13, 2000

Bid to extort $200,000 from Crowe
By Legal Affairs Editor Cindy Wockner

Two men, including a Coffs Harbour nightclub owner, conspired to extort $200,000 from Hollywood star Russell Crowe by offering to keep secret a security video of a brawl involving Crowe, a court heard yesterday.

The plot was revealed when the men appeared in different courts, where it was alleged that planning of the extortion bid was captured on telephone intercepts monitored by police.

Phillip Antony Cropper, 35, a Gold Coast businessman who has a $250,000 interest in Sydney's Rogues nightclub, appeared in Central Local Court charged with conspiring with Malcolm Brian Mercer, a nightclub owner, to demand $200,000 with menaces from Crowe.

Cropper is also charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice and conspiring to hinder an investigation with Mercer and Mark James Potts by withholding a VHS security video of the brawl from police.

According to a seven-page police statement of facts tendered to Central Local Court detectives from Strike Force, Parkmore had been monitoring Cropper's mobile telephone from November 16, two days before the Crowe incident, which occurred outside the nightclub in the early hours of November 18.

The statement alleges that at 8.26pm on November 18 Mercer called Cropper and told him he intended asking for $200,000 from Crowe to dispose of the tape and thus destroy the evidence.

According to the statement, several days later Mercer called Cropper, telling him they were thinking of approaching the South Sydney coach Craig Coleman in a bid to contact Crowe.

On the same day Cropper left a message for Sam Ayoub, a sports manager, telling him he "wanted to get in touch with Russell Crowe as Crowe has some dramas and a mate has a video he might want to purchase".

On November 24 it is alleged that Mercer again called Cropper and told him to call a third party, either Crowe or Mr. Coleman, and tell him "that the tape shows him (Crowe) ripping some girl's top on the bar" and "just tell him that I'm the, I'm about to f...ing give it either to American, they phone or whoever but the (Daily) Telegraph want to fly up".

And later on the same day, Cropper is recorded telling Ayoub's mobile message bank that he should contact Crowe: "put his hand in his pocket and f...ing buy it, if he can pay forty grand for a f...ing bell (laughs). He'll be wanting to pay forty grand for a tape of him biting someone's face and f...ing punching a sheila". The bell relates to $40,000 Crowe paid at a South Sydney charity auction.

It is also alleged Cropper then called Mr. Coleman, telling him he should call Crowe and "tell him it is a video, it's very clear, very clear, the TV want to buy it, the last thing a bloke wants to do is f...ing end up with CNN buying the c... or something like that, you know what I mean".

It is alleged that on November 24 Mercer contacted Channel 9's A Current Affair and The Daily Telegraph offering to sell the tape. The statement says Channel 9 paid Mercer an undisclosed sum of money and The Daily Telegraph paid for still shots taken from the video.

Police alleged that Cropper had "extensive ties to criminal milieu in NSW and Queensland".

Bob Somosi, representing Cropper, said at least $500,000 of Cropper's assets had been frozen and if bail was refused, Cropper's Gold Coast golf ball retrieval business would completely fail.

Cropper was granted bail and will appear in Coffs Harbour Local Court on February 14.

(Editor's note: the tape in question was played on Australian television. I have seen a copy and it was anything but "clear". The tape in no way shows Russell engaged in the activities described in this report. The tape shows Russell speak to and walk away from a woman, then later shows him apparently engaged in an argument with another male while two men accompanying him attempt to get him into a car. Russell was never charged with any offense related to this incident.)