A four-year tax fraud case against Comancheros national president Mick Murray and three others has been struck out after prosecutors failed to prove their case.
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Lawyers for Murray and his three co-accused, including lawyer John Voitin, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday for the final day of a committal hearing.
Murray, who is in prison over a separate murder charge, did not appear in court due to technical issues with video links to jail.
Prosecutors had charged Murray, Voitin, Richie Graham and Murray's ex-girlfriend Debbie Pitman with conspiring to dishonestly cause loss to the Commonwealth of Australia over a tax fraud they alleged was committed between August 2014 and March 2018.
They were all arrested by officers from the Echo Taskforce in November last year, over claims they concealed assets to avoid tax debt.
Prosecutor Jim Shaw sought to adjourn the case on Thursday to amend and extend the conspiracy charge to include companies owned by Pitman.
He argued there was enough evidence to support the court in committing the matter to trial, if "entities controlled by" Pitman were included in the charge.
However, lawyers representing the four accused said this was procedurally unfair as they had already argued their case based on the original conspiracy charge.
"It's scandalous that it's even being asked for," Murray's barrister Damian Sheales said.
"The court has an overriding duty to ensure a fair proceeding. These are fundamental principles that have been applied for 100 years in our courts."
The defendants accused Mr Shaw of trying to recast the prosecution's failed case.
Magistrate Keiran Gilligan rejected the prosecution's attempt the rephrase the conspiracy charge and decided not the commit Murray, Viotin, Graham and Pitman to trial.
He found there was not enough evidence to support a conviction.
"The evidence with which the accused is charged is of insufficient weight to support a conviction for reasons already canvassed in discussions today," Mr Gilligan said.
"The defence are discharged in relation to the conspiracy charge."
He ordered the prosecution to pay for the defence's costs.
Australian Associated Press
