Gatto Financial Investigation
Taskforce Hawk Arrests Mick Gatto and Wife Over Alleged Construction Financial Offences
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Victoria Police’s Taskforce Hawk raided a Mount Martha home and arrested Mick Gatto and his wife, both in their 70s, as part of an investigation into alleged financial offences. The couple were taken into custody and questioned, with further information expected later. Taskforce Hawk is tasked with probing criminal behaviour in the construction sector following extensive reporting into alleged corruption and illicit practices. In earlier comments, Gatto denied allegations made in a report by Geoffrey Watson QC that his work as a self-styled mediator and arbitrator between the CFMEU and construction firms had harmed the Victorian building industry and economy, saying he believed he was being scapegoated. Reporting also described the investigation as linked to complex schemes involving parties around unions and contractors. Gatto’s accountant, Charles Pellegrino, was reportedly raided by the Australian Federal Police last March over alleged use of front companies to receive suspect payments from building firms.
Key Points
1
Gatto told 3AW he believed he was being treated unfairly and said the allegations amounted to being “rendered me a stand over man with no evidence,” adding that he has spent “the last 30 or 40, years” facing similar claims without legal consequence.
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3AW reporter Jacqui Felgate said Mick Gatto “was actually taken into custody…last night” and brought back to the Mount Martha home in a police van with his wife, with police “taking boxes” at the property throughout the day (described as around six cars at the scene).
3
A report into the building industry and the CFMEU by Geoffrey Watson SC described Gatto as having a “malignant influence.”
4
The Herald Sun identified the woman arrested with Gatto as his wife, Cheryl.
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