OFF THE WIRE
heraldsun.com.au
A HELLS Angels bikie boss charged with $2.3 million of fraud offences has been unable to find the $100,000 he needs to make bail, his lawyer says.
Felix Lyle, 54, the president of the Sydney chapter of the Hells Angels, has been in custody since Thursday unable to raise the money and be released on a number of conditions.
His lawyer Martin Ricci said he hoped the money issue would be resolved later in the day.
"We're hoping to try and sort something out this afternoon," he said.
"It's always difficult. It's a large amount of money but we've got a couple of irons in the fire and we're hoping something will happen this afternoon."
Lyle's matter will next come before Central Local Court tomorrow, when Mr Ricci will request the surety bond amount be reduced if Lyle is still in custody.
"He's got police bail so the next step would be to seek to vary that if we couldn't make it," Mr Ricci said.
Lyle was allegedly involved in the attempted fraudulent financing of earthmoving equipment, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and an inner-Sydney property.
Police believe he is part of a wider organised criminal group involved in large-scale fraud within the finance industry.
He presented himself on Thursday to Surry Hills police station, where he was arrested.
Police say Lyle was the 16th person to be arrested since Strike Force Apia started up in 2007, relating to an alleged $15 million in fraudulent loans.
