30 Facts About Murray Riley

Murray Stewart Riley was an Australian Olympic rowing athlete, who, after leaving a career as a police officer, gained notoriety as a criminal.

Murray Riley served as a police officer in Sydney from 1943 until 1962, when he resigned after disciplinary charges were leveled against him.

Murray Riley was implicated in the Nugan Hand Bank scandal and associated with leading figures in the American Mafia, including Jimmy Fratianno of the Los Angeles crime family and corrupt Teamsters official Michael Rudy Tham.

Murray Riley participated in the double scull events at the Empire Games with Merv Wood, who later became NSW police commissioner, in 1950 and 1954, winning gold for Australia.

Murray Riley competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics, winning bronze in 1956.

Murray Riley was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct and rose to the rank of Detective Sergeant, but he was subject to disciplinary charges when he took "a communication to a person in gaol".

Later, the clearly angry Murray Riley verbally threatened Stewart and then attempted to run him down with his car.

In 1962, Murray Riley entered the poker machine and club industry as a manager for Ray Smith, later moving to work for, and then partnering with, Wally Dean.

Together Dean and Murray Riley began "defrauding licensed clubs by obtaining payment for services not provided".

Murray Riley was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and later deported.

Murray Riley was widely reported to be in Sydney; however, police could not find him.

Consequently, he avoided giving evidence before Justice Athol Moffitt who recorded that Murray Riley "had been treated with undue favour by [the police]".

Murray Riley was photographed with Sal Amarena of the Santos Trafficante mafia family.

Murray Riley formed links with the Teamsters and Mafia through associations with Rudy Tham.

Murray Riley subsequently arranged his own imports again using the 'Double Bay Bridge Club' couriers.

In Sydney, Murray Riley formed separate business relationships with Fratianno's former associate George Countis and Harry Sayvanus Wainwright, a fugitive American lawyer, both of whom had settled in Australia in the late 1960s.

Consequently, in April 1976, Murray Riley withdrew $15,000 from the Hong Kong branch and personally brought the first consignment of heroin into Brisbane in a false-bottom suitcase.

Hand transferred a total of $295,000 to Hong Kong for the benefit of Murray Riley, who used subordinates to smuggle heroin consignments, much of it destined for the Australian market.

Murray Riley had earlier planned to smuggle 4.5 tonnes of top grade cannabis from Thailand to Australia aboard the fishing vessel Choryo Maru.

The Woodward Royal Commission into Drug Trafficking accused Murray Riley of being involved in importing heroin from Bangkok in 1977.

Murray Riley failed to appear at the enquiry after police conveniently failed to find him.

Similarly, Alfred W McCoy has noted that Riley was not without friends during and after the Anoa episode.

Nine months after his conviction, Murray Riley was still being held in the more comfortable remand section of Long Bay Jail.

In 1983 the comfortably incarcerated Murray Riley was declared bankrupt, owing $132,497 to Nugan Hand Bank.

Murray Riley was released in May 1984, having served less than six years of his seventeen-year sentence, when the NSW government introduced new prisoner parole legislation.

In December 1991, Murray Riley simply walked out of Spring Hill Prison, Aylesbury.

Murray Riley's escape was not recorded for seven weeks and he remained at large for eight weeks; travelling to Northern Ireland, Spain and Belgium before being recaptured in Essex on 31 January 1992.

On 19 January 1993, Murray Riley escaped again and is believed to have taken part in a multimillion-pound IRA counterfeit racket.

In early 1994, Murray Riley flew from Hong Kong to Australia and settled in Queensland.

Murray Riley said that Riley had been found guilty of the "victimless" crime of conspiracy and the cost of bringing him back to London under police escort would be "exorbitant".