Dillan Mancuso: Convictions over kidnapping of former Lone Wolf bikie in his underwear

Four people have been convicted over the kidnapping of a former bikie — who was rescued dressed only in his underwear — but not before the victim did a runner.

Dillan Mancuso made national headlines when he was abducted over a multi-million dollar ransom plot in Sydney in 2021 — with images of him in his white underwear after his rescue by police going viral.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the Lone Wolf bikie had undertaken to give evidence about his kidnapping to the Downing Centre District Court last month but he failed to show.

He spent almost a fortnight on the run before he was captured in Tweed Heads and returned to Sydney.

Elijah Schaaf, Brandon Gillett, Vaeluagaomatagy Feilo and a juvenile – who cannot be named – were all found guilty of take and detain, and tampering with evidence last week, the Sydney newspaper reported.

On the stand, Mancuso testified: “I just remember being woken up … and my name being screamed, that’s basically all I remember from my dad’s house.”

“My next memory of the event is walking out of the factory,” he said.

“I remember walking out, being in their custody, not custody, I’m not sure what to call it, I remember them taking me to hospital, but my memory, it’s very patchy.”

The jury was reportedly shown messages allegedly sent by Mancuso’s kidnappers on the encrypted An0M application which included demands for $30 million “worth of cash or product”, referring to drugs.

“After nightfall he’s going in the hole,” the messages also warned.

The jury was also shown a video recorded by Mancuso and posted on TikTok, which showed the bikie miming to audio created by TikToker “Read Choi”, in which he says: “Sorry, first time being kidnapped, kinda nervous ... so like, why did you pick me?

“Do you think I’m cute?” the video, which was captioned, “I say you’ve got to try everything once”, said.

Schaaf, Gillett, Feilo and the juvenile are all due to be sentenced on September 6.

Mancuso was sentenced for money laundering in WA’s District Court in 2022 after he was arrested two years earlier by Australian Federal Police who were targeting a drug trafficking network.

Officers raided his home in Mt Pleasant, his ex-girlfriend’s home in Waterford, and her mother’s home in Shelley where they seized almost $1 million in cash, a Bentley and two Mercedes Benz cars worth more than $280,000.

He was on bail on the WA charges when he was kidnapped in Sydney and was extradited back to WA. Mancuso was jailed for 12 months but released on a $2000 recognisance order after serving six months.