Boss of bikie gang in ‘disarray’ found guilty of possessing more than $450,000 in unlawful cash

A Perth bikie leader who claimed his murdered predecessor, Nick Martin, was spending club funds on himself, has been found guilty of possessing more than $450,000 in cash suspected of being unlawfully obtained.

Police found half of the money in packages disguised as Christmas presents when they searched the car of Aaron Karl Labrook, 54, on December 28, 2022.

The rest of the cash was found on the same day at the home of horse racing identity Kellie Kersley, who was a close friend of Labrook’s partner.

Last year Kersley was found guilty of possessing the illegally obtained money and was sentenced to 12 months in jail.

Labrook faced a separate trial in the Perth Magistrates Court and earlier this year he claimed that all of the money belonged to the Rebels bikie gang.

He claimed he was in possession of it because other gang members had raised concerns that his predecessor, Nick Martin, was spending club membership fees, on things like home renovations.

Martin was shot dead in December 2020 in a sniper-style attack as he watched drag races at the Perth Motorplex in Kwinana.

Club in ‘disarray’

In his evidence, Labrook claimed the club had been “disarray” because Martin was running the club like a dictatorship.

Labrook said the money was from club membership dues and fundraising for a High Court challenge to new tough anti-bikie laws introduced by the state government.

He told the court the reason he had the money in cash was because police had contacted banks and had any accounts related to the gang closed.

Today Magistrate Andrew Matthews rejected Labrook’s evidence, describing it as “implausible” and “lacking in credibility”.

The magistrate said he was not satisfied the cash had been lawfully obtained and he found Labrook guilty of the two charges he was facing.

Defence counsel Christian Porter said it was accepted that a jail term was the appropriate sentence, but he asked that Labrook be released on bail so he could attend the birth of his third child, scheduled for later today.

The magistrate agreed but put in place further bail conditions, including that Labrook report to police twice weekly.

He is due to be sentenced next month.

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