High-profile Wollongong restaurateurs Andrew Harrison and Emmanuel Efstathiadis are in hot water after becoming the latest identities charged in connection with a major NSW Fisheries investigation into the illegal overfishing of eastern rock lobsters off the Illawarra coast.
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Harrison, whose company Seacliff Functions Pty Ltd is already facing 73 charges, has himself been charged with one count of failing to produce all records surrounding multiple purchases of seafood from Wollongong fisherman Pasquale Brancatisano between January 2013 and May 2014.
Efstathiadis, the head chef at Harrison's other eatery, The Lagoon Restaurant, is facing 13 charges, some of which relate to 158 kilograms of lobster he bought from Brancatisano on January 3 for $7146.
Both Harrison and Efstathiadis were advised in late May of the charges against them, however their cases only appeared in court for the first time on Tuesday.
Lawyers for the pair mentioned the matters but did not enter pleas and requested an adjournment of five weeks, which was granted.
Also adjourned to the same date were the cases against Seacliff, Brancatisano, his employer Lochiel South Pty Ltd and one of its directors, Tory Lavalle, and Shell Cove man James Prodanovski.
A further matter against Anvi Pty Ltd, the company behind the Harbourfront Restaurant, was finalised after guilty pleas were entered to two charges.
Court documents attached to the Anvi file reveal Brancatisano was at the centre of the department's investigation, which involved the use of multiple Fisheries officers who carried out surveillance of Brancatisano's activities from unmarked vehicles and boats in and around Wollongong Harbour.
It is alleged Brancatisano was observed on multiple occasions sorting lobsters into two or three bins on the deck of his boat, tagging the majority according to regulations, but leaving others untagged or tagged incorrectly.
These lobsters were then loaded into the back of his truck and delivered to the already named restaurants, Fisheries alleges.
On one occasion, department investigator Sharon Russell allegedly recorded seeing Lavalle "actively 'fist pump' in the air" when he was shown the illegal catch sitting in the boat's fish holding tank.
Brancatisano has been charged with 117 offences, many of which relate to claims he did not tag or failed to properly tag hundreds of lobsters, which he later sold to Seacliff Functions, the Harbourfront Restaurant and Shell Cove fishmonger James Prodanovski.
Lochiel South Ltd has been charged with 31 offences and Lavalle with five.
Lawyers representing the two men and the company entered not guilty pleas to all charges in court on Tuesday, estimating a hearing involving all the accused individuals and companies would take at least three weeks.
