Melbourne‘s criminal underbelly joined friends and family of Sam ‘The Punisher’ Abdulrahim as the slain gangster was buried in a lavish gold casket on Thursday.
Hundreds of mourners arrived at a mosque in Melbourne’s north in a range of luxury vehicles including Mercedes, Audis, Maseratis and BMWs for the funeral of Abdulrahim, who was gunned down on Tuesday morning.
The gold casket was nearly identical to that of Melbourne crime boss Carl Williams, who was farewelled in April 2010 after his prison murder.
That gold-on-solid-bronze casket was imported from America and was known among funeral directors as the best available and cost more than $50,000 at the time.
Michael Jackson and Ivana Trump were also farewelled in similar gold caskets, as were other gangland figures such as Nick ‘the Russian’ Radev.
A procession of bikies with the 1% neck tattoos roared into the small mosque car park in the middle of an shopping strip in the northern Melbourne suburb of Epping just before 10am.
Another yelled ‘rest in peace’ as black-clad mourners made their way into the mosque.
Abdulrahim’s remains, inside the gold casket, made a late entry into his final farewell – forever a showman.
Victoria Police mounted a small presence opposite the mosque and highway patrol controlled the roads and streets leading into the mosque.
Several emotional mourners embraced before entering the mosque, and Abdulrahim’s casket was taken inside just before 10.30am – half an hour after the service was advertised as starting.
A bystander commented it was ‘like an episode of the Sopranos’.
On his departure, motorcycles roared as the gold casket was loaded by his loved ones into the hearse.
The word Suna – Abdrulrahim’s nickname among friends and family – was spelt out in flowers and carried beside the vehicle.
Mourners spilled out onto the street as a guard of honour was formed.
A sweet photo of Abdulrahim, dressed white, was carried by one mourner as fearsome motorbikes roared closely behind.
Abdulrahim’s parents had entered the mosque about 9am.
Steven Eglezos, owner of Power Gymnasium, the gym repeatedly torched because of its close ties to Abdulrahim, attended the ceremony with his son Andrew, one of ‘The Punisher’s’ close friends.
Several members of Melbourne’s fighting community were also expected to attend the former kickboxer’s memorial.
Abdulrahim’s body was transported to it’s final resting place at the Northern Memorial Park where it was taken out of the lavish gold coffin and transferred into a plain brown casket.
Hundreds of mourners bid farewell before an excavator covered the Punisher’s grave with dirt.
Among the grieving were Abdulrahim’s wife and parents.
Abdulrahim was ambushed and executed in the underground carpark at Melbourne’s Quest Apartments in Preston about 103am on Tuesday.
Underworld sources have revealed Abdulrahim, 32, was killed by a professional hit squad of up to four gunmen after a $2 million bounty was placed on his head.
On Thursday, Homicide Squad Detective Dean Thomas reiterated officers were being mindful and respectful of the families, friends and loved ones dealing with grief.
‘I respect that the funeral is today, but to Sam’s family, friends and associates, I ask that they work with us and provide us with any information they have so that we can identify those responsible,’ he said.
‘Retaliation, tit-for-tat type behaviour really doesn’t achieve much, but there is nothing at this point to suggest that that will be the case.’
It’s understood Abdulrahim, a champion boxer and former Mongol bikie, flew into Melbourne from Thailand on Monday and had only stayed at Quest one night before his murder.
In his last weeks alive, Abdulrahim was said to have become ‘something of a ghost’ as he moved between Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand but returned to Melbourne when his funds ran dry.
One man at the crime scene told Daily Mail Australia he had attempted to warn Abdulrahim not to leave the previous location he had been hiding out at.
‘He wasn’t scared, he wasn’t scared of anything, he always said, “When my time comes, my time comes”,’ the man said.
On Tuesday, Abdulrahim was shot multiple times in the underground car park before his killers fled in a stolen white Porsche SUV, later found burnt out in nearby Reservoir.
A woman who was with Abdulrahim when he was executed escaped unscathed.
Up to 40 friends and family of the feared gangster converged outside the hotel, with police allowing some to enter the car park to see Abdulrahim’s body.
The murder has also sparked fears of retaliation attacks after Abdulrahim’s sister Ektimal took to social media just hours after his death with a message for his killer.
‘Whoever shot my brother to death, I’m after u mother f***er,’ she wrote. ‘I know it’s u dog. Never ends here.’
As detectives hunt the assassins behind Abdulrahim’s daylight execution in Melbourne on Tuesday, many in the underworld think they know exactly why he got clipped.
It harks back to 2016 when Abdulrahim – by his own telling – just happened to bump into Kadir Ors outside a northern Melbourne shopping centre and gave him a warm embrace.
Immediately, the once all-powerful Melbourne crime boss George Marrogi emerged and shot Ors dead then fled on foot.
Many believe Abdulrahim’s presence at the hit indicated he set up Ors – and that he played the wrong card when he chose to side with Marrogi in that dispute.
In the years since, Marrogi has been jailed and had his criminal empire torn to shreds by determined Victoria Police work, rendering Abdulrahim’s alliance with him useless.
Ors, by contrast, had a relationship to men who would go on to become the real criminal overlords of today.
The brother of exiled crime boss Kaz Hamad was beside Ors when Abdulrahim greeted him – and gave chase to Marrogi after the fatal shots.
Underworld players believe Abdulrahim’s role in Ors’ murder is the reason he is dead today.
The relationship he began with Ors’ widow after his murder only rubbed salt in the wounds.
However, Abdulrahim had a major role in the current underworld war plaguing Melbourne, so other motivations and a wide range of suspects have not been discounted.
Abdulrahim had made enemies across the criminal board, including his one-time bikie club, the Mongols, and senior-ranked commanders of the Comancheros, as well as a host of rivals in the Middle Eastern organised crime scene.
There have been no fewer than 18 attacks staged against Abdulrahim – or directed at him by firebombing or shooting his friends and associates – since 2017.
On Wednesday, police identified a second car they believe is linked to the assassination.
His killers were seen fleeing the area in a white Porsche SUV, which was found ablaze a short time later on Alexandra St in Reservoir.
Police say the assailants then fled in a grey Ford Ranger ute, which was seen travelling to Western Avenue in Westmeadows.
The killers then set that car alight.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has dash cam, CCTV, or any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
