A middleman whose name has been mentioned following the shooting of Michael McGurk was well-known in Illawarra racing circles and held a stake in numerous business ventures and Wollongong hotels.Richard Vereker's name also surfaced in proceedings before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) involving Wollongong City Council two years ago.During evidence from former council chief executive Rod Oxley in November 2007, ICAC heard Mr Vereker was present at a July 2006 lunch meeting with developer Lou Tasich and Mr Oxley.
Richie Vereker donated $75,000 to the ALP Michael McGurk shot dead in front of son The meeting was held to discuss Mr Tasich's interest in developing the council's Thomas St car park. The Mercury understands Mr Vereker's role was only to introduce the pair for the meeting.He was not called to give evidence at the ICAC hearings and was not the subject of any findings. Mr Tasich, however was recommended for possible criminal charges and was found to have engaged in corrupt conduct in attempting to offer council officer Peter Coyte a bribe, at a separate meeting.This week, Mr Vereker's reported involvement with a tape that Mr McGurk allegedly tried to use to blackmail developer Ron Medich, and a lunch meeting with Mr McGurk the day before he was gunned down outside his Cremorne home, put him back in the media spotlight.Fairfax newspapers reported yesterday that Mr Vereker, 68, had approached former federal Labor minister Graham Richardson about a tape Mr McGurk believed could spell disaster for the Government.Mr Richardson said Mr McGurk wanted $8 million from developer Ron Medich for the tape. Mr Vereker told Fairfax he approached Mr Richardson on Mr McGurk's behalf, but had no knowledge of any blackmail, saying: "McGurk knew that I knew Richo."Mr Vereker was expected to be interviewed by police yesterday.The Mercury does not suggest that Mr Vereker or Mr Medich are in any way involved in the killing of McGurk.Those who knew Mr Vereker during his many years in Wollongong yesterday described him as a man who used his extensive business and political connections in the Illawarra and Sydney to be an "intermediary" and broker meetings between contacts.The butcher and bookmaker was well known track side at Kembla Grange race course and was reportedly a close friend of Ernie Smith, the brother of horse training legend Tommy Smith.In 1975, Mr Vereker was part of a consortium with millionaire developer Bill Waterhouse that proposed to build a $50 million casino-tourist complex on a man-made island on Lake Illawarra, near Kanahooka.Mr Vereker held a stake in several Wollongong pubs including the Hotel Wollongong and Post Office Tavern - at the corner of Crown and Kembla streets where a multi-storey office building now stands - and the Oxford Tavern during the 1970s and 1980s.He was a partner in a multimillion-dollar hotel management company, Aussie Pubs, which was jointly owned with investors including John Singleton and Rene Rivkin. It owned at least seven pubs in NSW and Queensland, including the Post Office Tavern, until around 1990.In 1993, his Sydney meat production business Trendall Pty Ltd - of which Mr Vereker and his model wife Gail were both directors - went into liquidation with debts of more than $1 million.Media reports at the time said Mr Vereker then moved to Hungary to run a pie-making business in Budapest with his son, while his wife stayed in Sydney.Last year, Mr Vereker emerged as the second largest individual donor to the ALP, handing over $75,000 to the political party.Mr Vereker is a director of three companies - Goulburn Street Investments Pty Ltd, Innovative Brick Company Pty Ltd, and Readymeat (Australia) Pty Ltd.He could not be located for comment yesterday.
