OFF THE WIRE
Felix Lyle ... no-one acceptable has come forward to put up bail for him. Photo: James Alcock.
Anyone who posts the $100,000 bail for a Hells Angel bikie boss will no doubt face a police investigation of their own, the man's lawyer says.
Felix Lyle, 54, the president of the Sydney chapter of the Hells Angels, failed on Tuesday to make bail after five days in custody on $2.3 million fraud charges.
Lyle's solicitor Martin Ricci says his client could spend another week in Silverwater jail, in Sydney's west, before someone of suitable character posts his bail and can prove the money came from a legitimate bank account.
"And they will no doubt then be scrutinised by police and they will conduct a vigorous tracing exercise to see where the money comes from," Mr Ricci told reporters outside Central Local Court in Sydney.
Lyle was arrested on Thursday and granted conditional bail but has remained in custody until someone pays the $100,000 bond.
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Police allege Lyle is involved in the attempted fraudulent financing of earthmoving equipment, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and an inner-Sydney property.
They also believe he is part of a wider organised criminal group involved in large-scale fraud within the finance industry.He was the 16th person to be arrested since Strike Force Apia started up in 2007, relating to an alleged $15 million in fraudulent loans.
Today, Mr Ricci had every intention of asking magistrate Lee Gilmour to reduce the bail amount or allowing four people to post $25,000 each.
But he failed to first convince police, who he said would oppose in court a variation of the bail conditions.
"Thus far we haven't been able to find an acceptable person who can put that up," Mr Ricci said.
"I'm not certain whether that's because they're unacceptable or whether it's just a lot of money."
Whoever posts Lyle's bail must not have a criminal record or have been a bankrupt and must not have provided bail in an continuing criminal matter, Mr Ricci said.
"Of course, the difficulty in this one is that police have made it very clear that they will carefully scrutinise anyone who puts their hand (up) as an acceptable person," he said.
Lyle did not appear in court today and his lawyer told the magistrate he would not apply for a variation to the bail conditions.
His matter will next come before Central Local Court on August 2.
If Lyle is still in custody, Mr Ricci said he would have no other option but to apply for a variation to the bail amount.
"No one has $100,000 lying around," he said.
AAP
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