Police have task of unravelling puzzling tale of Bill Vlahos and his punting club
Andrew Rule
Herald Sun
December 11, 2013 12:01AM
DETECTIVES must have an open mind at all times. So those investigating the mysterious alleged bashing of Bill Vlahos - and torching of his car - have to eliminate the possibility he deliberately injured himself and burned his own vehicle.
This does not mean the man in the middle of the collapsed betting system he called "The Edge" would dream of doing such a thing. But police must still carry out "routine inquiries".
And, so far, the investigation has raised more questions than answers.
Trusted employees of BC3 Thoroughbreds who rushed to the Connewarre property on Sunday night have told detectives the yellow jerry can of diesel found near the smouldering utility came from a shed on the property. One large plastic container might look like another, but this one had a distinctive handwritten label on it.
This has led puzzled police to conclude that if intruders attacked Mr Vlahos (as he claims) then they apparently first searched the property for fuel rather than bringing it with them.
While forensics experts check who handled the container, investigators are pondering other inconsistencies.
A neighbour who found the agitated Mr Vlahos on the ground near the property's front gate recalls him saying "three men" had attacked him. But another neighbour recalls him saying "two men".
In one version, Mr Vlahos allegedly said the attackers were "Lebanese", but another witness thought he said "Yugoslavs".
Witnesses are, of course, reliably unreliable.
There are other problems for those trying to find the truth behind this scandal. :Investors" are embarrassed, shattered and angry.
A source close to BC3 Thoroughbreds - the bloodstock and racing arm of the Vlahos enterprises - has told people that "all the paperwork" for the punting club happened to be in the car when it burned. This is terrible luck for someone who has already mislaid, supposedly, $194 million of other people's money.
The same source says it was incredibly unlucky that Mr Vlahos visited the Connewarre property on Sunday night - as he hadn't been there for months, and had not told anyone he was coming. It was a 100-1 shot that intruders would fluke catching him there.
It all means a policeman's lot is not a happy one. Especially, in this case, for those who have invested their own savings in the scheme.
One veteran policeman admitted yesterday he cashed in his long service leave to "invest"and he knows several others who have put in large sums - including one who says he's owed more than $500,000. The policeman resents that he was persuaded against his own better judgment.
But his problems pale against those of a former AFL player and man-about-town, who not only invested his own money in the scheme but spruiked its benefits to others.
The former player has gone into hiding. A bad day turned much worse on Monday morning when two large, menacing men walked into his city office.
They stayed just long enough to deliver an ultimatum and a threat. When they left, he was so frightened he could hardly speak. It seems the men blamed him for certain people losing large amounts.
A colleague told him to go straight home and pick up his wife and flee, because some very ugly bikers are out to mess up his face.
http://m.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/police-have-task-of-unravelling-puzzling-tale-of-bill-vlahos-and-his-punting-club/story-fni0ffyu-1226780160052
