Underworld figure Mick Gatto and his wife Cheryl have been arrested at their home in Mount Martha as part of a building industry corruption probe. The couple are understood to have been arrested on Wednesday afternoon by officers from Taskforce Hawk – a specialised Victoria Police unit set up to investigate serious and organised crime in the construction sector, following the Building Bad revelations about the CFMEU.
“Detectives from Taskforce Hawk executed a warrant at a Mount Martha property this morning as part of a current investigation into alleged financial offences,” Victoria Police said in a statement. “Two people at the address, a man and a woman both in their 70s, were arrested and are being interviewed by police. Further information will be released later today.”
Taskforce Hawk investigation
Multiple media reports have named Mr Gatto and his wife Cheryl as the individuals arrested. Victoria Police launched Taskforce Hawk in July 2024 after a months-long investigation by Nine’s newspapers uncovered the state’s worst ever corruption scandal – including the widespread infiltration of organised crime in the Victorian building sector.
After being tasked with uncovering the extent of the corruption by the government-appointed administrator of the CFMEU, respected corruption expert Geoffrey Watson SC found between $15 billion and $30 billion of taxpayer funds had gone into the hands of criminals.
Gatto's influence in the CFMEU
Mr Gatto was featured a massive 165 times in the redacted version of Mr Watson’s Rotting From The Top report, with the corruption expert listing the underworld figure's influence as one of the "eight factors which wrecked the CFMEU". “Mick Gatto has been a malignant influence on the CFMEU for decades,” Mr Watson wrote.
The report cites the close relationship between Mr Gatto and disgraced CFMEU boss John Setka had made the underworld figure “so powerful (he) could order the CFMEU to stop work on any building site”. The report goes on to accuse Mr Gatto of running an “extortion racket” worth millions of dollars per year – money that is ultimately paid for by taxpayers.
“The Gatto extortion model involved demanding money from contractors under the threat that, unless a payment is made, the CFMEU would raise an industrial issue and close a building site,” the report states. “Extortion under the Gatto model was real and the downsides were serious. Closing a building site for a day would cost a builder between $50,000 and $500,000 depending on the size and complexity of the job. An executive at a Tier One firm… said closing its sites for a day would cost the business $1 million. Obviously, a lengthy site closure could quickly drive some builders into bankruptcy.”
In one of multiple case studies the report outlines that involve him, Mr Gatto is quoted as allegedly telling a developer “we can cause you grief”, which the report described as “obviously a threat.” Mr Gatto has denied any wrongdoing and has claimed the accusations against him have been “invented”. “I don’t know where it comes from… I believe most of it’s nonsense and it will all come out in time,” Mr Gatto told 10 News in February, during an interview in which he defended disgraced former CFMEU boss John Setka.
