1. Abraham Gilbert Saffron was an Australian hotelier, nightclub owner, and property developer who was one of the major figures in organised crime in Australia in the latter half of the 20th century.
22 Facts About Abe Saffron
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Abe Saffron 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 federal tax evasion.
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Former senior police officers testified on camera that Abe Saffron ordered the crime, which was swiftly and systematically covered up by corrupt police and government figures.
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Abe Saffron was born in Annandale, New South Wales in 1919, of Russian Jewish descent.
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Abe Saffron was educated at Annandale and Leichhardt primary schools and at the selective Fort Street High School.
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On 5 August 1940 Abe Saffron enlisted in the Australian Army and was promoted to the rank of corporal before his discharge in January 1944.
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Abe Saffron is reputed to have served in the merchant navy.
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Abe Saffron then relocated to Newcastle; he worked there for a time as a bookmaker, but it has been reported that he was not successful.
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In 1948 Abe Saffron returned to Sydney and began purchasing licences for a string of Sydney pubs.
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The 1954 Maxwell Royal Commission heard evidence that Abe 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.
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The Australian Commonwealth Police alleged that Mr Abe Saffron met with Chicago mobster, Joseph Dan Testa, in 1969, while Testa was in Australia.
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One of the most contentious incidents in Abe Saffron's career was his rumoured involvement in the disappearance and presumed murder of newspaper publisher and anti-development campaigner Juanita Nielsen in July 1975.
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Abe Saffron owned the Carousel nightclub in Kings Cross, where Nielsen 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 reported that Abe Saffron had financial links with developer Frank Theeman, against whose development Nielsen was campaigning.
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In May 2007, The Sydney Morning Herald published an article on Abe 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.
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Former senior police officers Steve Bullock and Paul Egge, supported by the testimony of other involved officers and former licensing magistrate James Swanson, stated on camera their belief that Abe Saffron ordered the crime, which they claim was swiftly and systematically covered up by corrupt police and government figures.
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In November 1987, following an extensive investigation by the NCA and the Australian Taxation Office, Abe Saffron was found guilty of tax evasion.
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Abe Saffron 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, viz.
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Abe Saffron died at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney in 2006, aged 86.
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Abe Saffron was interred next to his wife, Doreen, at Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.
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Abe 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.
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The book alleges that Saffron lent money to several other prominent Sydney businessmen including Frank Theeman as well as former TNT boss Sir Peter Abeles and property tycoon Sir Paul Strasser, both of whom received knighthoods during Askin's premiership.
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In November 2011, it was revealed that Alan Abe Saffron had stolen $250,000 from an account intended for his son Daniel Abe Saffron and invested it in his Los Angeles restaurant.