Abe Saffron
Encyclopedia
Abraham Gilbert "Abe" Saffron (6 October 1919 – 15 September 2006) was an Australian nightclub owner and property developer who was reputed to have been one of the major figures in Australian organised crime in the latter half of the 20th century.
For several decades, members of government, the judiciary and the media made repeated allegations that Saffron was involved in a wide range of criminal activities, including illegal alcohol sales, dealing in stolen goods, illegal gambling, prostitution, drug dealing, bribery and extortion. He was charged with a range of offences including "scandalous conduct", possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of stolen goods, but his only major conviction was for tax evasion.
He gained nationwide notoriety, earning the nicknames "Mr Sin", "a Mr Big of Australian crime" and "the boss of the Cross" (a reference to the Kings Cross
red-light district, where he owned numerous businesses).
He was alleged to have been involved in police corruption and bribing politicians. Saffron always vigorously denied such accusations, however, and was renowned for the extent to which he was willing to sue for libel against his accusers.
in 1919, of Russian Jewish descent. He was educated at Annandale and Leichhardt
primary schools and at the highly prestigious Fort Street High School
. Although his mother hoped he would become a doctor, Saffron left school at 15 and began his business career in the family's drapery firm in the late 1930s. He enlisted in the Australian Army
on 5 August 1940, and reached the rank of Corporal
before being discharged 4 January 1944. Saffron did not serve overseas. Saffron then served in the Merchant Navy
from January to June 1944.
At the time, NSW clubs and pubs were subject to strict licencing laws which limited trading hours and regulated alcohol prices and sale conditions. When Saffron began working at the Roosevelt, alcohol sales were also subject to wartime rationing regulations. A subsequent Royal Commission
into the NSW liquor trade heard evidence that in the early 1950s The Rooer being declared a "disorderly house
" by the NSW Police Commissioner. After Saffron sold the Roosevelt, it was able to be re-opened. Saffron then relocated to Newcastle
; he worked there for a time as a bookmaker
, but it has been reported that he was not successful.
When questioned by a Royal Commission about how he had obtained the substantial sum (£3000) with which he bought his first pub licence in Newcastle, he claimed that the money had come from savings he had accumulated from his bookmaking activity, although he was notably vague when pressed about the exact sources of this income.
In 1948 Saffron returned to Sydney and began purchasing licences for a string of Sydney pubs. It was later alleged that he also established covert controlling interests in numerous other pubs through a series of "dummy" owners. The 1954 Maxwell Royal Commission heard evidence that Saffron used these pubs to obtain legitimately purchased alcohol, diverting it to the various nightclubs and other businesses that he operated and selling at black market prices, realising vast profits.
By the 1960s Saffron owned or controlled a string of nightclubs, strip joints and sex shops in Kings Cross, including the Sydney club Les Girls, home of the famous transvestite revue. During this period he began to expand his business operations into "legitimate" enterprises and to establish holdings in other states, leading several other state governments to launch inquiries into his activities.
in July 1975. Although no direct connection to the crime was ever established, Saffron was shown to have had proven connections with several people suspected of being involved in Nielsen's disappearance. Saffron owned the Carousel nightclub in Kings Cross, where Nieslen was last seen on the day of her disappearance; his long-serving deputy James McCartney Anderson managed the club; one of the men later convicted of conspiring to kidnap Nielsen was Eddie Trigg, the night manager of the club; it was also reported that Saffron had financial links with developer Frank Theeman, against whose development Nielsen was campaigning.
was corrupt, that Askin and Police Commissioners Norman Allan
and Fred Hanson received huge bribes from the illegal gaming industry over many years, and that Askin and other senior public officials had overseen and approved of a major expansion of organised crime in New South Wales.
Using only material that was already in the public domain, sourced from evidence tendered to royal commissions and allegations made by politicians under parliamentary privilege
, Hickie devoted an entire section of his book to Saffron's business activities. Among the most damning material was the detailed evidence tendered to the 1954 Maxwell Royal Commission into the NSW liquor trade, which concluded that Saffron had established covert controlling interests in numerous NSW pubs to supply his "sly grog" outlets, and that he had systematically made false statement to the Commission and sworn false oaths before the NSW Licencing Court.
Furthermore, in the second edition of The Politics of Heroin by Alfred W. McCoy
, in a chapter summarising the Nugan Hand Bank
it is mentioned that Askin and Saffron regularly had dinner together at the Bourbon and Beefsteak Bar and Restaurant, owned by American expatriate Maurice Bernard Houghton.
The NSW Police were unable to effect any substantial convictions against Saffron over a period of almost 40 years, which only served to reinforce the public concerns about his alleged influence over state police and government officials, but after the establishment of the National Crime Authority in the 1980s, he became a major target for the new federal investigative body.
, Saffron was found guilty of tax evasion. His conviction was largely made possible by evidence provided by his former associate Jim Anderson, who testified that Saffron's clubs routinely kept two sets of accounts—one set of so-called "black" books, which recorded actual turnover, and another set ("white" books) which were purposely fabricated with the intent of evading tax by falsifying income.
Despite several legal appeals, Saffron served 17 months in jail. Judge Loveday said on sentencing "In my view the maximum penalty of three years is inadequate."
Saffron undertook a number of highly publicised defamation cases against various publications; he unsuccessfully sued The Sydney Morning Herald but was successful in later suits against the authors, publishers and distributors of Tough: 101 Australian Gangsters and the publishers of The Gold Coast Bulletin, which contained a defamatory crossword clue.
. Abe Saffron died at St. Vincent's Hospital
, Sydney
, Australia in 2006, aged 86.
He was interred next to his wife Doreen, at Rookwood Cemetery
, Sydney.
and the Gold Coast
and that Melissa Hagenfelds (Saffron's daughter by his former mistress Rita Hagenfelds) would also receive a $1,000 a week annuity and apartments at Centennial Park
and Elizabeth Bay. Other reported provisions of the will included bequests of up to $10 million to various charities.
In May 2007 the Sydney Morning Herald published an article on Saffron's reputed involvement in the infamous Ghost Train fire
at Luna Park Sydney
in 1979, when a suspected arson attack destroyed the popular ride, killing seven people. In an interview with Herald journalist Kate McClymont, Saffron's niece Anne Buckingham linked Saffron to the fire, stating that her uncle "liked to collect things" and that he intended to purchase Luna Park.
At the time of the fire, the park was being leased to property developer Leon Fink and his partner, who told the Herald that he had been stopped from purchasing the park by the then state ALP government of Neville Wran
-- reputedly because Fink's business partner Nathan Spatt had made derogatory comments about Wran's use of a private aircraft belonging to Sir Peter Abeles -- and Fink said that Wran once said to him at a function: "While my bum points to the ground, your partner will not get that lease." The Herald story also stated that a parliamentary report revealed that then Deputy Premier Jack Ferguson
had told John Ducker (head of the Labor Council of New South Wales
) that Wran had decided that Fink would not get Wran's support because he did not donate enough money to the ALP.
In August 2007 Allen & Unwin published the first major biography of Saffron, written by investigative journalist Tony Reeves, author of the 2005 biography of notorious Sydney gangster Lenny McPherson
.
In July 2008 Abe Saffron's son Alan returned to Australia from his home in the USA to promote his memoir Gentle Satan: Abe Saffron, My Father and the publication of the book was widely covered in the Australian media. According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, Saffron's book names former Saffron associate James McCartney Anderson as the chief agent of the conspiracy to silence Juanita Nielsen
. Anderson (who died in 2003) consistently denied any involvement while he was alive, but police reportedly failed to check Anderson's alibi that he was interstate when Nielsen disappeared.
In an interview with Herald reporter Lisa Carty, Alan Saffron said that he had received death threats over the book because it would name some of the people involved the Juanita Nielsen conspiracy, but that he was unable to name all those involved for legal reasons, because some were still alive.
Saffron claimed he could name people "much bigger" than former NSW premier Robert Askin
and former police commissioner Norman Allan
, with whom his father corruptly dealt to protect his gambling, nightclub and prostitution businesses. Saffron specifically referred to:
According to the Herald article, all the conspirators are named in the original manuscript of the book, which is now in the possession of Saffron's publishers, Penguin
, and that the book would be re-published with additional names after people not originally named had died.
A follow-up article published the next day carried Alan Saffron's assertion that his father controlled the vice trade, including illegal gambling and prostitution, in every state except Tasmania
and the Northern Territory
, and that he bribed "a host of politicians and policemen" to ensure he was protected from prosecution.
Later in his career Abe Saffron reportedly began laundering
his huge illegal income through loan sharking and that the late media magnate Kerry Packer
was among those who borrowed money from Abe Saffron, allegedly to cover gambling debts.
The book also alleges that Saffron loaned money to several other prominent Sydney businessmen including Frank Theeman (whose controversial Kings Cross development was the target of Juanita Nielsen's campaign) as well as former TNT boss Sir Peter Abeles and property tycoon Sir Paul Strasser, both of whom received knighthoods during Askin's premiership.
The book lends further weight to the long-standing allegations of corruption against former NSW Premier Robert Askin and Police Commissioner Norman Allan. It claims that Saffron made payments of between A$5000 and $10,000 per week to each man over many years, that Askin and Allan both visited Saffron's office on several occasions, that Allan also visited the Saffron family home, and that Abe Saffron paid for an all-expenses overseas trip for Allan and a young female 'friend'.
Later in Askin's premiership, according to Alan Saffron, his father became the "bagman" for Sydney's illegal liquor and prostitution rackets and most illegal gambling activities, collecting payoffs that were then passed to Askin, Allan and others; in return his father was completely protected.
It was reported on 9 October, 2011 that Abe also fathered another son, Adam Brand.
For several decades, members of government, the judiciary and the media made repeated allegations that Saffron was involved in a wide range of criminal activities, including illegal alcohol sales, dealing in stolen goods, illegal gambling, prostitution, drug dealing, bribery and extortion. He was charged with a range of offences including "scandalous conduct", possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of stolen goods, but his only major conviction was for tax evasion.
He gained nationwide notoriety, earning the nicknames "Mr Sin", "a Mr Big of Australian crime" and "the boss of the Cross" (a reference to the Kings Cross
Kings Cross, New South Wales
Kings Cross is an inner-city locality of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 2 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
red-light district, where he owned numerous businesses).
He was alleged to have been involved in police corruption and bribing politicians. Saffron always vigorously denied such accusations, however, and was renowned for the extent to which he was willing to sue for libel against his accusers.
Early life
Saffron was born in AnnandaleAnnandale, New South Wales
Annandale is a suburb of Inner West Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Annandale is located within 3-5 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt. Annandale's northern end lies on Rozelle Bay,...
in 1919, of Russian Jewish descent. He was educated at Annandale and Leichhardt
Leichhardt, New South Wales
Leichhardt is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. Leichhardt is located 5 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt...
primary schools and at the highly prestigious Fort Street High School
Fort Street High School
Fort Street High School is a co-educational, academically selective, public high school currently located at Petersham, an inner western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
. Although his mother hoped he would become a doctor, Saffron left school at 15 and began his business career in the family's drapery firm in the late 1930s. He enlisted in the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
on 5 August 1940, and reached the rank of Corporal
Corporal
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
before being discharged 4 January 1944. Saffron did not serve overseas. Saffron then served in the Merchant Navy
Merchant Navy
The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom, and describes the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency...
from January to June 1944.
Career
Upon leaving the Merchant Navy, he became involved with a notorious Sydney nightclub called The Roosevelt Club, co-owned by "prominent Sydney businessman" Sammy Lee. It is claimed that Saffron began his rise to power in the Sydney underworld through his involvement in the lucrative sale of black-market alcohol at the Roosevelt.At the time, NSW clubs and pubs were subject to strict licencing laws which limited trading hours and regulated alcohol prices and sale conditions. When Saffron began working at the Roosevelt, alcohol sales were also subject to wartime rationing regulations. A subsequent Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
into the NSW liquor trade heard evidence that in the early 1950s The Rooer being declared a "disorderly house
Disorderly house
In English criminal law a disorderly house is a house in which the conduct of its inhabitants is such as to become a public nuisance, or outrages public decency, or tends to corrupt or deprave, or injures the public interest; or a house where persons congregate to the probable disturbance of the...
" by the NSW Police Commissioner. After Saffron sold the Roosevelt, it was able to be re-opened. Saffron then relocated to Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
; he worked there for a time as a bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
, but it has been reported that he was not successful.
When questioned by a Royal Commission about how he had obtained the substantial sum (£3000) with which he bought his first pub licence in Newcastle, he claimed that the money had come from savings he had accumulated from his bookmaking activity, although he was notably vague when pressed about the exact sources of this income.
In 1948 Saffron returned to Sydney and began purchasing licences for a string of Sydney pubs. It was later alleged that he also established covert controlling interests in numerous other pubs through a series of "dummy" owners. The 1954 Maxwell Royal Commission heard evidence that Saffron used these pubs to obtain legitimately purchased alcohol, diverting it to the various nightclubs and other businesses that he operated and selling at black market prices, realising vast profits.
By the 1960s Saffron owned or controlled a string of nightclubs, strip joints and sex shops in Kings Cross, including the Sydney club Les Girls, home of the famous transvestite revue. During this period he began to expand his business operations into "legitimate" enterprises and to establish holdings in other states, leading several other state governments to launch inquiries into his activities.
Juanita Nielsen disappearance
One of the most contentious incidents in Saffron's career was his rumoured involvement in the disappearance and presumed murder of newspaper publisher and anti-development campaigner Juanita NielsenJuanita Nielsen
Juanita Joan Nielsen was an Australian publisher and heiress.She was born Juanita Joan Smith in New Lambton, NSW to parents: Neil Donovan Smith and Vilma Grace Smith nee Meares . Her parents separated soon after her birth and she was raised by her mother at Killara, Sydney...
in July 1975. Although no direct connection to the crime was ever established, Saffron was shown to have had proven connections with several people suspected of being involved in Nielsen's disappearance. Saffron owned the Carousel nightclub in Kings Cross, where Nieslen was last seen on the day of her disappearance; his long-serving deputy James McCartney Anderson managed the club; one of the men later convicted of conspiring to kidnap Nielsen was Eddie Trigg, the night manager of the club; it was also reported that Saffron had financial links with developer Frank Theeman, against whose development Nielsen was campaigning.
Exposé
In the 1980s investigative journalist David Hickie published his landmark book The Prince and The Premier, which included a substantial section detailing Saffron's alleged involvement in many aspects of organised crime in Sydney. The book's central thesis was that former NSW Premier Robert AskinRobert Askin
Sir Robert William Askin GCMG, was an Australian politician and the 32nd Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party of Australia. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but always disliked his first name and changed it by deed poll in 1971...
was corrupt, that Askin and Police Commissioners Norman Allan
Norman Allan
Norman Thomas William Allan was the Commissioner of the New South Wales Police, from 1962 to 1972...
and Fred Hanson received huge bribes from the illegal gaming industry over many years, and that Askin and other senior public officials had overseen and approved of a major expansion of organised crime in New South Wales.
Using only material that was already in the public domain, sourced from evidence tendered to royal commissions and allegations made by politicians under parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made related to one's duties as a legislator. It is common in countries whose constitutions are...
, Hickie devoted an entire section of his book to Saffron's business activities. Among the most damning material was the detailed evidence tendered to the 1954 Maxwell Royal Commission into the NSW liquor trade, which concluded that Saffron had established covert controlling interests in numerous NSW pubs to supply his "sly grog" outlets, and that he had systematically made false statement to the Commission and sworn false oaths before the NSW Licencing Court.
Furthermore, in the second edition of The Politics of Heroin by Alfred W. McCoy
Alfred W. McCoy
Alfred William McCoy is a historian of Southeast Asia. He is the J.R.W. Smail Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. McCoy graduated from the Kent School in 1964. He earned his B.A...
, in a chapter summarising the Nugan Hand Bank
Nugan Hand Bank
Nugan Hand Bank was an Australian merchant bank thatcollapsed in 1980 in sensational circumstances amidst rumours of involvement by the Central Intelligence Agency and organized crime.-Founding:...
it is mentioned that Askin and Saffron regularly had dinner together at the Bourbon and Beefsteak Bar and Restaurant, owned by American expatriate Maurice Bernard Houghton.
The NSW Police were unable to effect any substantial convictions against Saffron over a period of almost 40 years, which only served to reinforce the public concerns about his alleged influence over state police and government officials, but after the establishment of the National Crime Authority in the 1980s, he became a major target for the new federal investigative body.
Tax evasion
In November 1987, following an extensive investigation by the NCA and the Australian Taxation OfficeAustralian Taxation Office
The Australian Taxation Office is an Australian Government statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Australian federal taxation system and superannuation legislation...
, Saffron was found guilty of tax evasion. His conviction was largely made possible by evidence provided by his former associate Jim Anderson, who testified that Saffron's clubs routinely kept two sets of accounts—one set of so-called "black" books, which recorded actual turnover, and another set ("white" books) which were purposely fabricated with the intent of evading tax by falsifying income.
Despite several legal appeals, Saffron served 17 months in jail. Judge Loveday said on sentencing "In my view the maximum penalty of three years is inadequate."
Saffron undertook a number of highly publicised defamation cases against various publications; he unsuccessfully sued The Sydney Morning Herald but was successful in later suits against the authors, publishers and distributors of Tough: 101 Australian Gangsters and the publishers of The Gold Coast Bulletin, which contained a defamatory crossword clue.
Death
Prior to his death he lived in retirement at Potts Point, SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Abe Saffron died at St. Vincent's Hospital
St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
St Vincent's Public Hospital, Sydney is located in the inner city suburb of Darlinghurst. Though part of the New South Wales state public health system it remains under the auspices of the Sisters of Charity.-History:...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia in 2006, aged 86.
He was interred next to his wife Doreen, at Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery is the largest multicultural necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, Sydney.
Recent news
In November 2006 the Sydney Daily Telegraph reported that Saffron's son Alan would receive only $500,000 from his father's multi-million dollar estate; the article quoted various estimates of the value of the estate that ranged from A$30 million to as much as $140 million. The article reported that Saffron's eight grandchildren (including Alan Saffron's five children) would receive $1 million each, Saffron's mistress Teresa Tkaczyk would receive a lifetime annuity of $1000 a week and the couple's apartments in Surry Hills, Elizabeth BayElizabeth Bay, New South Wales
Elizabeth Bay is a harbourside suburb in eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Elizabeth Bay is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney....
and the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
and that Melissa Hagenfelds (Saffron's daughter by his former mistress Rita Hagenfelds) would also receive a $1,000 a week annuity and apartments at Centennial Park
Centennial Park
Centennial Park could be:In Argentina:*Parque Centenario, a public park in Buenos AiresIn Australia:*Centennial Park Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia, a large cemetery, approximately 40 hectares in size...
and Elizabeth Bay. Other reported provisions of the will included bequests of up to $10 million to various charities.
In May 2007 the Sydney Morning Herald published an article on Saffron's reputed involvement in the infamous Ghost Train fire
Ghost Train (Luna Park Sydney)
The Sydney Ghost Train fire was a fire that destroyed the ghost train amusement ride at Luna Park Sydney on the night of 9 June 1979. Inadequate fire-fighting measures and low staffing caused the fire to completely destroy the ride, which was first constructed in 1931, and had been transported from...
at Luna Park Sydney
Luna Park Sydney
Luna Park Sydney is an amusement park, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
in 1979, when a suspected arson attack destroyed the popular ride, killing seven people. In an interview with Herald journalist Kate McClymont, Saffron's niece Anne Buckingham linked Saffron to the fire, stating that her uncle "liked to collect things" and that he intended to purchase Luna Park.
At the time of the fire, the park was being leased to property developer Leon Fink and his partner, who told the Herald that he had been stopped from purchasing the park by the then state ALP government of Neville Wran
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...
-- reputedly because Fink's business partner Nathan Spatt had made derogatory comments about Wran's use of a private aircraft belonging to Sir Peter Abeles -- and Fink said that Wran once said to him at a function: "While my bum points to the ground, your partner will not get that lease." The Herald story also stated that a parliamentary report revealed that then Deputy Premier Jack Ferguson
Jack Ferguson
Laurie John Ferguson was an Australian politician and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.-Early life:...
had told John Ducker (head of the Labor Council of New South Wales
Labor Council of New South Wales
The Labor Council of New South Wales is a representative body of Trade union organisations in the State of New South Wales, Australia. As of 2005 there are 67 unions and 8 Rural and Regional Trades & Labor Councils affiliated to the Labor Council, representing 800,000 workers in NSW...
) that Wran had decided that Fink would not get Wran's support because he did not donate enough money to the ALP.
In August 2007 Allen & Unwin published the first major biography of Saffron, written by investigative journalist Tony Reeves, author of the 2005 biography of notorious Sydney gangster Lenny McPherson
Lenny McPherson
Leonard Arthur McPherson was one of the most notorious and powerful Australian career criminals of the late 20th century...
.
In July 2008 Abe Saffron's son Alan returned to Australia from his home in the USA to promote his memoir Gentle Satan: Abe Saffron, My Father and the publication of the book was widely covered in the Australian media. According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, Saffron's book names former Saffron associate James McCartney Anderson as the chief agent of the conspiracy to silence Juanita Nielsen
Juanita Nielsen
Juanita Joan Nielsen was an Australian publisher and heiress.She was born Juanita Joan Smith in New Lambton, NSW to parents: Neil Donovan Smith and Vilma Grace Smith nee Meares . Her parents separated soon after her birth and she was raised by her mother at Killara, Sydney...
. Anderson (who died in 2003) consistently denied any involvement while he was alive, but police reportedly failed to check Anderson's alibi that he was interstate when Nielsen disappeared.
In an interview with Herald reporter Lisa Carty, Alan Saffron said that he had received death threats over the book because it would name some of the people involved the Juanita Nielsen conspiracy, but that he was unable to name all those involved for legal reasons, because some were still alive.
Saffron claimed he could name people "much bigger" than former NSW premier Robert Askin
Robert Askin
Sir Robert William Askin GCMG, was an Australian politician and the 32nd Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party of Australia. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but always disliked his first name and changed it by deed poll in 1971...
and former police commissioner Norman Allan
Norman Allan
Norman Thomas William Allan was the Commissioner of the New South Wales Police, from 1962 to 1972...
, with whom his father corruptly dealt to protect his gambling, nightclub and prostitution businesses. Saffron specifically referred to:
- "... one particular businessman I was desperate to name, and there's one particular police officer who is extremely high ranking. They're the biggest names you can imagine in Australia".
According to the Herald article, all the conspirators are named in the original manuscript of the book, which is now in the possession of Saffron's publishers, Penguin
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
, and that the book would be re-published with additional names after people not originally named had died.
A follow-up article published the next day carried Alan Saffron's assertion that his father controlled the vice trade, including illegal gambling and prostitution, in every state except Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
and the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
, and that he bribed "a host of politicians and policemen" to ensure he was protected from prosecution.
Later in his career Abe Saffron reportedly began laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
his huge illegal income through loan sharking and that the late media magnate Kerry Packer
Kerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...
was among those who borrowed money from Abe Saffron, allegedly to cover gambling debts.
The book also alleges that Saffron loaned money to several other prominent Sydney businessmen including Frank Theeman (whose controversial Kings Cross development was the target of Juanita Nielsen's campaign) as well as former TNT boss Sir Peter Abeles and property tycoon Sir Paul Strasser, both of whom received knighthoods during Askin's premiership.
The book lends further weight to the long-standing allegations of corruption against former NSW Premier Robert Askin and Police Commissioner Norman Allan. It claims that Saffron made payments of between A$5000 and $10,000 per week to each man over many years, that Askin and Allan both visited Saffron's office on several occasions, that Allan also visited the Saffron family home, and that Abe Saffron paid for an all-expenses overseas trip for Allan and a young female 'friend'.
Later in Askin's premiership, according to Alan Saffron, his father became the "bagman" for Sydney's illegal liquor and prostitution rackets and most illegal gambling activities, collecting payoffs that were then passed to Askin, Allan and others; in return his father was completely protected.
It was reported on 9 October, 2011 that Abe also fathered another son, Adam Brand.
See also
- Dawn O'DonnellDawn O'DonnellDawn O'Donnell , was a prominent Sydney lesbian and gay rights activist and entrepreneur/impresaria. She is often credited with starting the gay and lesbian club scene in Sydney's Oxford Street and Newtown.-Early life:...
- The Abe Saffron Story
Other references
- Saffron, Alan Gentle Satan: My Father Penguin Ringwood, Vic 2008. ISBN 978-0-7181-0496-2
- Saffron, Alan Abe Saffron: The sins of the father, revisited by the son at The Bridge, Sydney, undated (2010)
- Benjamin, Henry "Abe Saffron: colourful character, proud Jew" Australian Jewish News 22 Sep 2006. Accessed 3 Nov 2007.
- Hickie, David The Prince and The Premier Angus & Robertson, Sydney 1985. ISBN 0-207-15153-9
- Silvester, John & Rule Andrew Tough: 101 Australian gangsters : a crime companion Floradale Productions & Sly Ink, Camberwell, Vic 2002. ISBN 0-9579121-2-9
- Reeves, Tony Mr Sin: The Abe Saffron dossier Allen & Unwin, Sydney 2007. ISBN 978-1-74175-220-5 (2007)
- http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/saffrons-long-lost-son-20111008-1lev9.html "Saffron's long lost son" SMH
External links
- http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sydneys-mr-sin-dies/2006/09/15/1157827145527.html Sydney Morning Herald obituary
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1805337/ Mr. Sin: The Abe Saffron Story (2010) documentary, directed by Hugh Piper