The widow of slain drug lord Alen Moradian has blamed police for her husband’s death as she laid him to rest after a funeral that attracted a colourful array of his heavily tattooed bikie associates.
Natasha Moradian said the cocaine kingpin would still be alive if he had been allowed to leave the country when he learnt he had a price on his head last year.
‘With the heaviest of hearts, we laid my husband to rest today,’ Mrs Moradian exclusively told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.
‘What makes it even sadder is that this could have been prevented if the police force granted my husband approval to travel overseas or at least interstate.’
An exclusive photo of the late gangster obtained by Daily Mail Australia shows the kingpin with gold teeth and multiple tattoos relaxing with a huge glass of wine.
Moradian, who was on parole for importing 40kg of cocaine when he was executed, was refused permission to alter his reporting conditions so he could flee NSW.
The 48-year-old was shot dead in a hired Audi in an underground carpark at Bondi Junction in Sydney’s east on June 27 by two gunmen who are yet to be caught.
Mrs Moradian said her husband had been on parole for more than five years without even been booked for speeding or facing any other criminal charges.
This photo of slain cocaine kingpin Alen Moradian – obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Australia – shows the gangster with gold teeth, multiple tattoos… and relaxing with a massive glass of wine
Natasha Moradian is pictured wiping away tears as her murdered husband is buried at Pinegrove Memorial Park in Minchinbury on Wednesday
‘In cases such as Alen’s, not just one particular detective or department (should be) making up their own minds how they should handle a matter such as dangerous as this.’
She said a homicide detective had come to the couple’s home last August and warned them both ‘to warn of imminent danger to him’.
‘They told him to move to a secure residence and change his routines and patterns,’ Mrs Moradian said.
‘They were at our home for over an hour explaining how important it was. Alen left our home that night and did not return.
Mrs Moradian said her husband had engaged a solicitor to ask Community Corrections, which supervises parolees, if he could move interstate or overseas.
Daily Mail Australia understands Community Corrections sought advice from NSW Police who would neither confirm nor deny he was in danger.
Heavily tattooed associates of slain drug kingpin, including a man with ‘Death’ tattooed on his forehead, and bikie figure Jesse Vella (third from front) paid their respects to the late gangster
The Order of Service from Alen Moradian’s funeral shows the cocaine trafficker with his dead on the shoulder of his wife, Natasha Moradian
‘The police force denied his request,’ Mrs Moradian said.
‘He had less than a year to go for his parole to finish. Yet the police force allows others to come and go as they please.
‘It’s heartbreaking that this tragedy could have been prevented and also the community could have been safer had they allowed him to leave legally.
‘There must be a set of criteria the police force adheres too in cases such as Alen’s.
‘Not just one particular detective or department making up their own minds how they should handle a matter such as dangerous as this.
‘The system is simply unjust and unfair.’
Mrs Moradian wiped away tears at Pinegrove Memorial Park in Minchinbury as she buried her late husband after an Assyrian Church of the East service at St Hurmizd’s Cathedral in Greenfield Park on Wednesday.
Security guards had warned media that his associates were prepared to attack them outside the church as hundreds gathered for his memorial service.
‘Don’t you know who these people are?’ one guard asked a Daily Mail Australia photographer. ‘They will break your f***ing face.’
Mourners were seen comforting Mrs Moradian, whose emotions were hidden behind designer sunglasses.
Attending the funeral ws senior Comanchero gang member Kurt Mifsud (centre, behind man in the hooded jacket) a close associate of the former OMCG gang’s president Allan Meehan
Jesse Vella, above, front, was another attendee at the funeral with other Comanchero members, having patched over from the Rebels last year when Allan Meehan was president
The security brigade, hired by Moradian’s family, assembled about an hour before the ceremony began to control two gates at the church’s entrance.
In tense scenes, guards threatened media to back away, warning reporters and photographers could be assaulted by Moradian’s associates.
Two young men were seen handing thick white envelopes to the security detail.
As Moradian’s coffin was driven away in a hearse a ribbon across one floral tribute was adorned with the words ‘My Alen’.
Among the tattooed bikies seen at the funeral were senior Comanchero members Jesse Vella and Kurt Mifsud.
Both are close associates of former gang president Allan Meehan, Vella patching over from the Rebels to the Comanchero last year.
Slain gangster Alen Moradian’s widow Natasha is pictured arriving at her husband’s funeral at St Hurmizd Cathedral in Sydney’s Greenfield park on Wednesday morning
Moradian was buried at Pinegrove Memorial Park in Minchinbury after his funeral at Greenfield Park
Family and friends gathered at St Hurmizd’s Cathedral on Wednesday morning, nine days after the gangster was gunned down in the city’s east on his wife Natasha’s birthday
While police were on high alert, there is no suggestion anyone pictured at the funeral made any threats to media or has any criminal affiliations.
Glamorous women and heavily-tattooed men dressed in black hugged as they greeted and comforted each other as they entered the church’s car park.
Several police cars were spotted doing laps around the church in the hours before the service, including riot control, highway patrol, and general duties vehicles.
An unmarked car carrying undercover officers was stationed across the road from the church. One detective could be seen with a camera taking pictures as mourners arrived.
Alen Moradian, left, is pictured with Fares Abounader, who was shot dead outside his home at Panania in September 2020 at the start of Sydney’s latest gang war
Moradian’s casket is carried from the hearse at Pinegrove Memorial Park where he was buried
A police helicopter flew over Pinegrove Memorial Park on Wednesday as Alen Moradian was buried. His widow Natasha is pictured centre
Pall bearers carry slain gangster Alen Moradian’s casket into the church on Wednesday
Police in plain clothes strolled back and forth in front of the church, with their pistols clearly visible in holsters strapped to their hips.
Several mourners were pulled over in their cars for security checks and random breathalyser tests as they left the funeral.
Florists began delivering bouquets of flowers about 9.20am on the front steps of the church before the hearse pulled up a short time later.
Mrs Moradian and her sister Tanya were seen driving by the church in separate vehicles about an hour before the service.
Moradian had been sitting in a black Audi below his rented Bondi Junction apartment, about to go to the gym, when he was suddenly fired about 8.30am.
He was shot multiple times in the head at close range, leaving his face almost unrecognisable.
Moradian was farewelled with the Christian rites of the Assyrian Church of the East at a service in Sydney’s west watched by about 10 security officers
Mourners were seen comforting Moradian’s widow (above) as she arrived at the service, her emotions hidden behind designer sunglasses
The crime boss had also taken bullets to the torso as one of two killers apparently fired every round from a pistol’s magazine into his body.
‘They walked up and emptied a clip into him,’ a source said. ‘He wasn’t going anywhere.’
Police are still hunting the gunmen and have seized two burnt out getaway vehicles which were abandoned a short time after the shooting at Bondi and Zetland.
Moradian’s car was seen to have seven bullet holes through its driver’s side window.
Detectives have traced the Audi – which was not registered under Moradian’s name – to a hire car company from Sydney’s south-west.
One of the getaway cars – a grey Porsche Macan dumped on James St in Bondi – may prove vital to solving the crime after a failed attempt to set it fully alight.
In a major breakthrough, firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, allowing detectives to recover an intact handgun beneath one of the seats.
Moradian was shot dead in a hired Audi in an underground car park below his rented unit at Bondi Junction in Sydney’s east on June 27
Moradian, dubbed Australia’s ‘Tony Soprano’, pleaded guilty in 2010 to importing 40kg of cocaine, although authorities suspected the haul was up to 100kg.
He was convicted in July 2011 of importing a large commercial quantity of cocaine and sentenced to a minimum ten years and five months in prison.
Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said last week Moradian’s links to the big names in Sydney’s underworld made him a high-value target.
‘He’s a high-level criminal identity… he’s a major player in the organised crime network and also has links to the Comanchero OMCG,’ Detective Superintendent Doherty said hours after Moradian’s death.
‘He obviously had a big target on his back.’
Mourners wearing black are pictured outside the church on Wednesday
Several police cars were spotted doing laps around the church in the hours before the service, including riot control, highway patrol, and general duties vehicles
A source said the underworld figure had instructed lawyers to approach the Community Corrections office at Windsor, north-west of Sydney, about varying his parole conditions.
‘They contacted Community Corrections to get him relieved of his reporting conditions so he could leave the country because he was concerned about there being a target on his back,’ the source said.
‘Community Corrections sought information from the police and they were unwilling to confirm the fact he was genuinely at risk.
‘On that basis Community Corrections couldn’t relieve him of his reporting obligations, so he could not seek refuge overseas.’
Forensic police are pictured outside the block of units in Spring Street, Bondi Junction, where Moradian was shot dead on June 27
The black Audi hire care Alen Moradian was driving when he was shot dead was towed away from the crime scene the day after his execution. Bullet holes are visible in the driver’s window
Moradian’s lawyers also made contact with the State Crime Command to seek clarification of whether or not police considered his life to be at risk.
‘They wouldn’t confirm or deny that he was at risk of being assassinated,’ the source said.
Discussions took place with Community Corrections about Moradian moving to Melbourne but that would have required Victorian authorities to accept responsibility for his parole.
Another suggestion was made that Moradian could move somewhere else in NSW and report to a different Community Corrections office but that did not proceed.
Alen Moradian would have qualified for parole on his cocaine charges – and therefore have been free to travel out of Australia – on April 24 next year.
Any decision to vary Moradian’s parole would ultimately have to have been made by the Commonwealth Parole Office as he had committed federal offences.
The gangster’s wife Natasha had also gone to jail for her minor role in the Golden Gun syndicate.
She was sentenced in 2011 to a maximum four years and six months in jail after she pleaded guilty to dealing with $4.6 million in cash earned by the drug ring
