In 2008, Australian fugitive Raphael Joseph made a desperate, last ditch plea to the then US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, not to be extradited back to NSW to face a murder charge.
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The underworld figure unsuccessfully argued that if sent back to NSW, he would be "tortured or killed".
Six years later, NSW police fear that Mr Joseph might have now met that fate.
Mr Joseph, who has previously gone by the name of Rafi Tooma, and is known as "Huss" or "Hussany" to his family and friends, is now believed to have been kidnapped and possibly murdered after he got into the back seat of a late-model silver sedan on Dartbrook Road, Auburn, near the local McDonalds about midnight on March 21.
Detectives believe Mr Joseph, who had spent that afternoon at his Chiswick apartment and at The Star casino, willingly got into the vehicle which had at least two other men inside.
His family reported him missing the next day and no one has seen or heard from Mr Joseph since. His white 2009 E350 Mercedes with Tasmanian registration plates was discovered near where he was last seen.
The commander of the homicide squad, Detective Superintendent Michael Willing, said while there was some hope Mr Joseph was alive but they strongly suspect that he has "met with foul play".
In the fortnight since he was last seen, police have spoken to a number of his family and associates and searched homes and bushland in the Flemington area in a bid for clues to his whereabouts.
"He was a family man, he's the uncle to a number of young children who want to know where their uncle is," Detective Superintendent Willing said.
He was also well-known to police for his involvement in violent offences and organised crime.
Detective Superintendent Willing said Mr Joseph was a man of "some means" and were examining if he was kidnapped as part of an extortion attempt.
"We suspect that Mr Joseph has been taken by persons who are hoping to gain financially from his disappearance," he said.
Detectives are also not discounting his chequered past, including his involvement in an Assyrian crime gang, and were "keeping an open mind" into the motive for Mr Joseph's disappearance.
Mr Joseph was previously the subject of a four-year international manhunt beginning in 2002, after he was wanted in relation to the shooting murder of his alleged rival gang member, Dimitri Debaz.
Mr Debaz was shot dead after a melee broke out at Sydney's Sefton Playhouse hotel on December 13, 2002.
Mr Joseph fled but was arrested in San Diego in 2006 by chance by immigration officials, who suspected he was an illegal immigrant.
But when they checked his personal details they discovered he was one of NSW's most wanted criminals. In the petition to Ms Rice, Mr Joseph's US lawyer explained why his client had gone into hiding after the Debaz murder.
"A friend of [Mr Joseph's], Sadi Jajo, was kidnapped a few months later, beaten up, shot twice in each leg, had a caustic liquid poured on his neck, and then dumped on the street," the petition said.
"His kidnappers were attempting to obtain from him [Mr Joseph's] location."
Detective Superintendent Willing said he believed the director of public prosecutions did not push ahead with the murder charge after Mr Joseph's extradition. He said police had no information about any current bounty placed on his head.
His family had also not received any demands for money, however it was through his associates that they believed he may have been the victim of an extortion attempt.
Police are now appealing to anyone with information about Mr Joseph's disappearance to come forward.
Detective Superintendent Willing said calls can be made anonymously via CrimeStoppers.
"We don’t need to know who you are; we just need to know where Mr Joseph is,” he said.
Mr Joseph was last seen wearing a grey T-shirt, khaki pants and dark shoes.
Correction: A supplied image that originally appeared on this story was not Raphael Joseph as captioned.
