The daughter of one of Australia’s most notorious gangsters is locked in a battle with the tax office for her $1million home.
Once photographed clutching a teddy bear at her drug lord father Carl Williams’ funeral, Dhakota Williams, 17, is now fighting the ATO over the home she inherited from her grandfather.
The two-storey house in Essendon, north-west Melbourne, was bequeathed to Dhakota when George Williams died of a heart attack in his late 60s.
After George’s 2016 death the Australian Tax Office launched legal action over his will in an effort to seize $740,000 in unpaid taxes.
But Dhakota and her father’s widow Roberta Williams claim Carl made a deal with police to wipe the tax debt in exchange for information on Melbourne’s ‘underbelly’ crime war which shook the city in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Thrust into the spotlight by the court battle, the gangland heiress has revealed she plans to study law and said she ‘wants revenge’ in an explosive television interview.
Dhakota Williams (pictured), the daughter of one of Australia’s most notorious gangsters, is locked in a battle with the tax office for her $1million home
Photographed clutching a teddy bear at her father Carl William’s funeral in 2010, Dhakota could now be a model, according to her mother, but plans to study law
Her million-dollar home (pictured) in Essendon, north-west Melbourne, was bequeathed to the now-17-year-old when her grandfather George Williams died in 2016
After the death of George the Australian Tax Office launched a legal battle over his will in order to recover $740,000 in unpaid taxes (pictured are Carl and Dhakota Williams)
Carl Williams’ widow Roberta is seen leaving the Melbourne Supreme Court earlier this month
But before he could testify in court Carl was bashed to death in Victoria’s notorious Barwon Prison and police cancelled their offer to pay the debt.
Carl was serving a life sentence for after pleading guilty to organising three murders and for conspiracy to murder a fourth person.
Dhakota, now in Year 11, was only two when her father staggered into the Essendon home after being shot in the stomach by gangster Jason Moran.
Despite her plans to enter the legal profession, Dhakota appears to have inherited her father’s rebellious streak, News.com.au reported.
Just months ago she breached security at the high roller room at Melbourne’s Crown Casino before taking a photo posted with the caption ‘made it’.
Dhakota has also said that she ‘wants revenge’ in a tell-all interview set to air on 60 Minutes on July 8.
Dhakota (pictured) and her father’s widow Roberta Williams claim Carl made a deal with police to wipe the tax debt in exchange for information on Melbourne’s ‘underbelly’ war
But before he could testify in court Carl (pictured with Dhakota) was bashed to death in Victoria’s notorious Barwon Prison and police cancelled their offer to pay the debt
Carl was serving a life sentence for ordering three murders and for conspiracy to murder a fourth person (pictured is Carl Williams’ killer Matthew Johnson moments before the murder)
Her mother Roberta’s barrister John Selimi addressed the Victorian Supreme Court on Tuesday as part of an appeal against the court’s last ruling in March.
‘Carl Williams was promised his father’s tax debt would be wiped off and the reason that was done was so George Williams would be capable of giving that house to Carl William’s daughter,’ Mr Selimi said.
In March the Supreme Court ruled Roberta had no claim to the house and made orders for it to be sold and the proceeds used to pay George’s debt.
Mr Selimi said the appeal was about enforcing the deal made between Carl and Victoria Police.
As part of the deal, police agreed to wipe George Williams’ tax debt, but Carl was bashed to death inside Barwon Prison in 2010 before he could testify in court.
Victoria Police later cancelled their offer to pay George’s tax debt.
Pictured is drug lord Carl Williams, left, as he walks with his father George, right, in 2004
Dhakota (pictured at her father’s funeral), now in Year 11, was only two when her father staggered to the Essendon home after being shot in the stomach by gangster Jason Moran
In 2013, George agreed to mortgage his Essendon home to the ATO in a settlement deal, but Roberta’s lawyer said the grief-stricken father was not in the right state of mind at the time.
‘He expressed anguish over the alleged tax debt and he told them he was very sick and suffered from heart problems and depression,’ Mr Selimi said.
In a sworn affidavit, Roberta said George was ‘extremely depressed and anxious every time we saw him and always complained about the tax office chasing him for the debt’.
But the ATO also says Carl’s deal with Victoria Police has nothing to do with them.
‘It’s unfortunate that Carl Williams, having entered this agreement, is killed in custody,’ lawyer James McKay said.
Her mother Roberta’s barrister John Selimi addressed the Victorian Supreme Court on Tuesday as part of an appeal against the court’s last ruling in March (pictured is Carl Williams in 2003)
But the ATO also says Carl’s deal with Victoria Police has nothing to do with them (pictured is a photo of father and daughter at Carl’s funeral)
‘Because of a breach of that agreement by Victoria Police, a different entity, somehow that affects the position of my client.’
Roberta’s barrister wants the battle over the Williams family home to go to trial.
‘Carl Williams would not jeopardise his life by lagging to police for nothing,’ Mr Selimi said.
‘The enforcement of bargains between criminals and Victoria Police, upon which persons rely, is in the public interest.’
Justice Joanne Cameron has reserved her decision.
In 2013, George agreed to mortgage his Essendon home (pictured) to the ATO in a settlement deal, but Roberta’s lawyer said the grief-stricken father was not in the right state of mind at the time
WHO WAS CARL WILLIAMS?
Pictured: Williams leaving a Melbourne courthouse in 2003 after being granted bail
Carl Williams has been described as Australia’s most notorious gangster due to his central role in Melbourne’s ‘underbelly’ gangland war which shook the city in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Williams was serving a life sentence in Melbourne’s notorious Barwon Prison for four murders and conspiracy to commit another when he was bashed to death by fellow inmate Matthew Charles Johnson with a exercise bike part on April 4 2010, making him the last victim of the underworld war.
KEY EVENTS
October 13 1970: Born Carl Anthony Williams in Melbourne, Victoria.
1990: Convicted of handling stolen goods, possession of stolen property and failing to answer bail. Fined $400.
1993: Convicted of criminal damage and throwing a missile. Sentenced to 150 hours of community service work.
1994: Convicted of attempting to traffic in a drug of dependence. Sentenced to 12 months’ jail, six months suspended for two years.
October 13 1999: Williams is shot in the stomach by Jason Moran over an $80,000 debt to the Moran crime family, and stumbles bleeding to his parents home in Essendon.
November 25 1999: Williams is arrested with his father George and another associate and charged with drug trafficking after $20million worth of amphetamine tablets were seized.
June 15 2000: Mark Moran, Jason Moran’s half-brother is shot dead outside his north-west Melbourne home. Williams was charged with murder over the shooting but charged were dropped when he pleaded guilty to three other killings.
November 10 2010: William’s home in Hillside and his Mercedes Benz are damaged by shotgun blasts. Williams later testified he believed the Morans were responsible.
June 21 2003: Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro are gunned down while sitting in a van with after watching Moran’s children play football.
August 18 2003: The badly-burnt body of Mark Mallia, a close associate of murdered mod enforcer and drug dealer Nik Radev, is found in a melted wheelie-bin.
October 25 2003: Drug dealer Michael Marshall is gunned down in front of his son in South Yarra.
March 31 2004: Moran family patriarch Lewis Moran, father of Jason Moran, is shot dead execution-style in the Brunswick Club in Melbourne.
June 9 2004: Police arrest two gunmen near the home of notorious gangster Mario Condello.
February 6 2006: Mario Condello is shot dead in his driveway.
July 19 2006: Williams pleads not guilty to the murder of Michael Marshall but is sentenced to 27 years – 21 without parole – over the killing. The outcome of the trial was not revealed until 2007.
May 7 2007: Williams pleads guilty to three counts of murder over the deaths of Jason Moran, Mark Mallia and Lewis Moran, and and one count of conspiracy to murder Mario Condello. He is sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment and given two 25-year jail sentences, all to be served concurrently with a minimum term of 35 years before eligible for parole.
April 4 2010: Williams is bashed to death in Barwon Prison by inmate Matthew Charles Johnson, 38, who used an exercise bike part in the murder.
December 8 2011: Johnson is sentenced to 32 years jail without parole for the murder of Williams. Victorian Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry found Johnson killed Williams because he was providing assistance to Victoria Police.