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Two senior CFMEU officials temporarily detained by Victoria Police’s Taskforce Hawk after detectives swooped on the union’s Victorian headquarters on Monday have dismissed allegations of union corruption or kickbacks involving the former boss of a bikie gang.
The arrest and release of five serving CFMEU officials by Taskforce Hawk on Monday, with two facing minor charges, marks the most dramatic intervention yet by the elite police unit launched to tackle suspected crime and corruption in Victoria’s construction sector and which is now also gathering information for the upcoming royal commission.
The police action is a blow for the Albanese government-backed CFMEU administration two years into its attempt to reform the union, but it is not surprising given newly appointed administrator Michael Crosby’s recent concession that the scandal-tainted union had cleaned up in every jurisdiction except Victoria.
In a statement released on Monday afternoon, Crosby confirmed that Hawk had “executed search warrants at six addresses, including CFMEU Victoria’s office, as part of an investigation into alleged secret commissions in the construction industry”.
“Criminals and bad actors in construction remain a major threat to the workers, which is why we need greater regulation and scrutiny across the sector,” Crosby said, warning that “anyone associated with criminal elements will have absolutely no place in this union’s future”.
Police revealed homes in Chirnside Park, Westbury, Gisborne, Powelltown and Somerville were also searched on Monday. Investigators seized four CFMEU vehicles, 10 mobile phones, several laptops, documents, iPads, USBs, a .22 rifle and a prescription drug.
The five men arrested were a 36-year-old from Chirnside Park, a 46-year-old from Westbury (near Moe), a 27-year-old from Gisborne, a 56-year-old from Powelltown and a 37-year-old from Somerville.
A Chirnside Park man was charged with possessing a schedule 4 drug and bailed to appear at Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on November 10. A man from Westbury was charged with failing to store a long-arm firearm and ammunition as required. He was bailed to appear at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court on January 11.
Three other men were released pending further inquiries.
“The investigation relates to allegations of drug trafficking as well as secret commissions,” a police statement said.
Crosby revealed he had ordered an internal investigation into the allegations, while also cautioning against rushing to judgment in respect of any of the officials arrested on Monday.
“Taskforce Hawk has confirmed that to date no charges have been laid against any CFMEU official as part of this investigation. There is a presumption of innocence and the branch will continue to offer support whilst the investigation is ongoing,” he said.
Also concerning for Crosby is the police decision to arrest one of his administration’s key reformers, Jason “Spike” Deans, a CFMEU official who multiple union and industry sources told The Age is respected as honest and hardworking.
Deans, the most senior of the union figures detained and released by Hawk, has stridently denied that the CFMEU has ever assisted the industrial relations business run by former Mongols bikie chief Tyrone “Little Ty” Bell.
Deans, who was promoted to a key Victorian union leadership post just weeks ago by the CFMEU administration, told The Age he wanted to “make it very clear” that he and his fellow union official Matt Montebello had engaged in no impropriety in connection to Bell’s work as a union mediator.
Montebello was also arrested and released without charge on Monday.
“There has never been any untoward or any illegal activity from myself or Matt with … that little fella [Bell],” Deans said when contacted about the police inquiry when it was revealed by The Age last week.
“I’ve taken on this role because I care about good union members and their families. If anyone thinks that I’m here for the position or status they are very wrong.
“I’m going to do what I need to do to get this union back into a functional position and I will make decisions that some people are not going to like. I will be ruthless to protect this union if I need to.”
There is no suggestion by this masthead that Deans, Montebello or any of the other three officials arrested and released are engaged in any unlawful behaviour, only that police suspect they hold information relevant to their ongoing inquiry.
When The Age contacted Montebello last week to ask him why he was a person of interest in Taskforce Hawk’s ongoing investigation into Bell and allegations the ex-bikie chief tried to influence the CFMEU, he also denied having any improper dealings with Bell.
“I’ve never taken a cent off him, mate,” Montebello said.
Asked if he had ever discussed with Bell the CFMEU’s disruption of a Melbourne building project last September – the industrial dispute at the centre of the Hawk probe into Bell– Montebello denied any knowledge of the union action.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about, mate,” he said, before hanging up.
Last Thursday, The Age revealed that Bell, a former national vice-president of the Mongols outlaw bikie gang, was being probed by police over allegations he offered inducements to officials still serving in the CFMEU in return for their support of his business, Dynamis HSR.
The Age also revealed that the Taskforce Hawk operation that led to Monday’s arrests and a raid of the CFMEU’s Swanston Street headquarters was examining whether CFMEU organisers leaked Bell information or co-ordinated union activity with him in order to advance the interests of Bell’s industrial relations consultancy.
Bell’s connections to the CFMEU were cultivated via two channels: his relatively brief stint as a CFMEU delegate working for building company Markscon, and his long-standing social and schooling ties to serving and ex-CFMEU organisers and delegates, including Montebello and his brother Kane Montebello, a high-ranking Hells Angels member who also served as a union delegate.
Three CFMEU sources said the administration had sought and received reassurance from Matt Montebello that he had cut ties or was carefully managing his familial relationships with people linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs.
In addition to his brother, Montebello’s cousin has also held a role with the Hells Angels and was briefly recruited into the union.
An undated photo circulating in the construction industry, but which appears to be several years old, shows Montebello wearing a Hells Angels support singlet. There is no suggestion he has ever held a role in the club or been involved in bikie activity.
Montebello’s brother, cousin and Bell were among the highest-profile serving and ex-bikie gang members recruited into the CFMEU between 2021 and 2024, only to be forced out in July 2024 when this masthead’s Building Bad series first broke.
Last week, Bell described the police allegations as “just ridiculous” and defended Matt Montebello.
“I’ve been friends with him since primary school, and his brother and I feel very sorry for the guy, because he loves his job,” Bell said.
“I hope you don’t write anything bad about that guy, because he’s a very good dad, a very good person,” he said.
CFMEU assistant administrator Matt McGowan said: “CFMEU has been made aware of a police operation this morning as part of Taskforce Hawk. As this is a live police matter, CFMEU cannot comment further at this time.”
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Nick McKenzie is an Age investigative journalist who has three times been named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year. A winner of 20 Walkley Awards, including the Gold Walkley, he investigates politics, business, foreign affairs and criminal justice.Connect via email.
Lachlan Abbott is a crime reporter at The Age. He was previously a city reporter and covered breaking news.Connect via email.From our partners
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