Australian cricket star Stuart MacGill claims he was kidnapped, forced to strip naked, then beaten and threatened to have his fingers cut off with bolt cutters in a seedy farmhouse by a group of thugs led by a 150kg man he called the ‘Big Guy’.
The harrowing details of the 50-year-old’s alleged ordeal are contained within his nine-page police statement that’s been obtained and published by the The Sunday Telegraph, in which MacGill claims the gang were attempting to extract $150,000 to pay for a drug debt, police allege.
The statement confirms details of the incident first revealed by Daily Mail Australia, in which the spin bowler claims everything went wrong for him after introducing a mate called Sonny, a regular customer of his restaurant ‘Aristotle’, in Neutral Bay, Sydney, to his brother-in-law, Marino Sotiropoulos, on April 14.
Police allege shortly after the pair met outside the restaurant, which is owned by his Maria O’Meagher, Sotiropoulos agreed to sell 2kg worth of cocaine to Sonny worth $660,000.
Sonny then vanished without paying for the drug, leaving MacGill the fall guy for the gang’s desperate attempts to get their money back, the statement claims.
Stuart MacGill alleges he was targeted on April 14 after introducing a regular patron at his Greek restaurant, Aristotle on Sydney’s lower north shore, to his brother-in-law, Marino Sotiropoulos. Pictured: MacGill and his girlfriend Maria O’Meagher behind the bar at the restaurant they have run together for years
Stuart MacGill is the general manager of the Greek restaurant Aristotle’s at Neutral Bay. His girlfriend, Maria O’Meagher, is the owner. It is not suggested she had any role in the alleged kidnapping
What came next was a harrowing ordeal in which MacGill alleges he was snatched off the street in Neutral Bay and bundled into a car next to a 150kg Polynesian man he refers to as ‘Big Guy’, the police statement alleges.
Big Guy, along with two other men, allegedly drove MacGill more than 60km to a decrepit western Sydney farm where the world famous former leg spinner was forced to strip bare to prove he wasn’t wearing a police wire.
MacGill claims one of the men used a mobile phone torch to check his body in the dark shed, offering him a glimpse of his surroundings and alleged kidnappers.
One of the men was allegedly wearing a balaclava and carried a set of boltcutters and plastic bag.
Big Guy allegedly asked about Sonny and threatened to use the boltcutters to cut off his fingers and toes should he not comply with their requests.
NSW Police allege the retired leg-spinner, 50, was bundled into a car by Richard Schaaf, 29, (pictured) and his brother Frederick Schaaf, 27, on the streets of Sydney’s lower north shore, before enduring a terrifying hour-long kidnapping ordeal
MacGill is pictured at an Australian training session at the Gabba in Brisbane ahead of a Test against Sri Lanka in November 2007
Police further allege MacGill noticed at least two men armed with guns and that Big Guy ‘slapped him around’ and punched him in the face repeatedly.
‘There was noise from me falling over, so they made me sit on the floor. It’s like they were annoyed that I was making too much noise,’ MacGill told police in a statement after the alleged incident seen the publication.
Daily Mail Australia previously revealed MacGill told police Sonny was a drug dealer who often frequented the restaurant he runs with his girlfriend, Sotiropoulos’ sister Maria O’Meagher.
Neither MacGill nor Ms O’Meagher have been charged with an offence and it is not suggested they did anything wrong.
According to a police timeline, MacGill was kidnapped at Cremorne, driven to Bringelly in the city’s west and then released in Belmore after an hour-long ordeal at gunpoint
Four men were arrested and charged after Stuart MacGill was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint
Richard Schaaf (pictured is one of four men charged over the alleged abduction of former cricketer Stuart MacGill
Both Sonny and Sotiropoulos had heard of one another and were ‘hassling’ MacGill to introduce them, which he did on April 7, he claims.
‘I introduce people, that’s what I do,’ MacGill said. ‘I said ”Marino Sonny, Sonny Marino” and I left… I have no idea what happened after that and to be honest I didn’t care… I just wanted them both to leave me alone.’
Exactly a week later he awoke about noon to several frantic missed calls and messages from Sotiropoulos.
The contents of the messages allegedly said it was a matter of ‘life and death’ but before MacGill had a chance to return the calls Sotiropoulos arrived at his house, buzzing the intercom and revealing Sonny had allegedly stolen from some ‘scary people’.
MacGill claims he told Sotiropoulos the matter had nothing to do with him and that he did not want to get involved.
Stuart MacGill was taken away from his home in Cremorne (pictured, sitting in the back seat) to give a statement after four men – including the brother of his girlfriend – were arrested in relation to his alleged kidnapping and assault
One of the four men arrested by police in relation to the alleged kidnapping of former Australian spin bowler Stuart MacGill
Another of the arrested men is bundled out of a police wagon following a series of raids on Wednesday
Test cricket star Stuart MacGill was allegedly held against his will for four hours after becoming embroiled in an alleged $660,000 cocaine rip-off, according to court documents
According to MacGill, Sotiropoulos responded: ‘Mate, it’s all over for you, you’re f**king dead.’
The threat prompted MacGill to allegedly try to contact Sonny, urging him to do the right thing and explaining that he was supposedly being threatened.
He claims he tried to call Sonny twice and texted him six or seven times, including on message which read ‘I thought we were friends’.
He never heard back.
MacGill claims his house was being watched and that Sotiropoulos sat in a black Audi waiting for him to leave home.
At one stage, he was so desperate to escape he told a neighbour a man was waiting for him because he thought MacGill ‘slept with his wife’ so the neighbour agreed to smuggle him out on the floor of his car.
But when he returned home about 7.30pm that evening, he was allegedly met by Sotiropoulos, who he claims said: ‘The big guys are here to see you’.
Stuart MacGill allegedly introduced Marino Sotiropoulos, the brother of his girlfriend Maria O’Meagher, to a man known as Sonny. Sotiropoulos later allegedly supplied Sonny with 2kg of cocaine provided by another unknown dealer who was never paid for the drugs. McGill is pictured with Ms O’Meagher
He was assured the trio ‘just wanted to talk’ and understood he was not directly involved, but once he was bundled into the car he was certain he was going to die.
‘I started to shake. I knew there would be no cameras and no one would see me… They picked up one guy who had a black balaclava on… At that point I thought they had picked up the guy that was going to kill me.’
Eventually MacGill claims he was dropped at Bankstown train station, where he got in a cab and was driven home.
After the alleged ordeal, MacGill and Ms O’Meagher packed their bags and the cricket star hid in the boot of his girlfriend’s car as she drove out of the lot and headed toward Bronte in Sydney’s east.
They spent six days hopping from motel to motel, fearful they were being watched, before MacGill finally took his allegations to the police on April 20.
Sotiropoulos was arrested on May 5 and charged with take/detain company with intent to get advantage occasioning actual bodily harm, participating in a criminal group, and supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
Son Minh Nguyen, and brothers Richard and Frederick Schaaf were also charged in relation to the alleged kidnapping plot.
MacGill had been working at Aristotle’s with his partner before he was allegedly abducted. He is pictured at the restaurant with former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (second from the left)
The decrepit shack where MacGill was allegedly held at gunpoint
Shocking images inside the rundown property on Sydney’s outskirts where MacGill was allegedly held captive at gunpoint and beaten up by three men have emerged.
Rooms inside the barren shack were covered in filth with grime all over the walls and floor.
The exterior of the home was covered in cobwebs while an outdoor toilet had discarded possessions strewn on the floor.
Neighbours told Seven News the tenant who lived there for eight years moved out on Monday and were shocked to see police there on Wednesday.
‘It was scary, seeing police in overalls with cameras,’ one man said.
MacGill has not been seen since he was picked up from his Cremorne home by police on Wednesday and taken to a nearby station to give more information about his ordeal.
Stuart MacGill was allegedly held at gunpoint at this Bringelly home (pictured) on Sydney’s south-western outskirts on April 14
Walls and floors inside the vacant property (pictured) were covered in filth and grime