George Freeman – Australian Kingpin

George Freeman, Lenny McPherson, Stan Smith: Sydney Australian Crime Lords *  George Freeman was born in 1935. First arrest was 1947 for theft. * Born in 1935, he left school around 1946 and began work as a stable hand, continued petty crime, ended up in Boy’s Home, which is kind of like a Juvenile Detention Center. These places were terrible for young boys. Older boys brutalized them in a lot of ways. Many of Australia’s best-known criminals did time in these awful places. They were scarred for life. George Freeman spent most of the 1960s as a mid-level thug, racking up arrests and finding his way. He was always able to make money reliably setting odds on horse-racing. * This is how he met Lenny McPherson and Stan Smith  Lenny McPherson (b. 1921) McPherson was first arrested at 11. He also did time in Juvenile Detention and was brutalized by older boys and guards. * He spent the 1950s in and out of jail for various violent crimes and made connections in the Sydney underworld. * He became a career criminal with a network including prostitution, robbery, extortion, gambling, and protection rackets. * He rose to power in the  1960s-1970s. McPherson committed a series of violent murders in the 1960s, eliminating his competition and consolidating his power over crime in New South Wales * He developed contacts inside law enforcement and one time an honest cop found McPherson with an envelope containing a list of potential jurors to his murder trial. * He had a large Protection racket, aided by officers in the notoriously corrupt New South Wales Police. * For decades, the police literally helped criminals steal, kill rivals, and sell drugs. Triumverate: Lenny McPherson, Stan Smith, George Freeman * Stan Smith (b. 1937) * He was a partner in the group’s protection racket of Sydney’s King’s Cross—the night club/gambling district * Stan Smith’s name arose in the investigations of 25 shootings during the 1950s-60s. * He was shot in during a break-in of a rival’s home. He survived, said nothing to police, then several weeks later, the rival was machine-gunned to death on the street. * * McPherson took control of gambling in Sydney: loan-sharking and running casinos. He noticed George Freeman had a head for numbers and offered him a job as an SP Bookmaker (“starting price”) setting odds in their new casinos. * Politicians, police, celebrities all gamble in their Sydney casinos. These three control all gambling in Sydney * Smith puts together a massive marijuana smuggling operation, eventually integrating heroin. Freeman and McPherson do not like the drug trade. Stuart John Regan: 1960s-70s * Regan was a psychopath in the criminal world. He murdered indiscriminately, drawing unwanted attention to the Sydney underworld. Finally, Regan actually murdered his girlfriend’s 2-year old son. Police will look the other way for a lot, but when children start disappearing, something has to be done. Freeman and Smith got the contract, shooting him eight times, one for every person he had killed. Connections to the Chicago Outfit Joseph Dan Testa * He was a “developer” or an Outfit clean man who came to Australia in 1965 and made criminal connections with McPherson and Freeman. * Testa invested money with McPherson in Grants Constructions Pty, Ltd. * Testa owned property throughout Florida and Chicago. He had close ties with “Milwaukee Phil” Alderisio. At this time, Alderisio was responsible for Outfit gambling holdings in the Caribbean. * McPherson sent George Freeman and Stan Smith to Chicago for six weeks with Joseph Dan Testa in 1968. * McPherson also visited Chicago during this time. The theory is the Outfit was attempting to finance/buy into casinos in Australia and likely discussing the ...