once more and asked Crocker and his wife to meet him at the south-western end of Montague Road in West End, where the Brisbane River takes a dramatic sweep around Toowong towards St Lucia. Burgess said he’d rendezvous with them ‘under a big fig tree with a table and chair sitting under it’.
‘Julie and I went down there and Harry Burgess was already sitting at that table, so we got out of the car,’ Crocker would later tell investigators. ‘He had another officer with him … I didn’t know him.’
Burgess came to the point. ‘Things are going to change,’ he supposedly told Crocker. ‘You’ve been getting phone calls telling you about busts and that.’
‘That’s right. I thought that might have been you.’
‘It was,’ Burgess said.
‘Why? What’s going on?’
‘From now on you’ve got to pay somebody,’ said Burgess.
‘What, you?’
‘No,’ he clarified. ‘You won’t be paying any police.’
‘I won’t pay police, I never have and I never will.’
‘Well, I’m telling you now what’s got to be done,’ Burgess went on. ‘After this discussion today, you’ll get a phone call and you’ll be told how much money to leave at a certain spot, each time of the month, and if it’s not there I’ll bust you and put you in gaol. If you don’t cooperate, Julie, your wife …’
Crocker arced up. ‘Don’t you frighten Julie because there’s no need to …’
Crocker saw that his wife was shaking.
‘No need to be, if you just do what you’re told, it’ll be alright. It’ll be a lot better. I guarantee you, you won’t go to gaol … but if you don’t cooperate and you do anything silly, you could easily be found face down.’
Crocker asked if this was ‘heavy, big-time stuff’.
‘Yes, it is,’ Burgess warned him.
‘Julie and I can’t end up dead out of this,’ he said.
‘Well, if you don’t do as you’re told, you can, by all means.’
Crocker and his wife took a moment to digest the threat. He told his wife in front of the two officers that she wasn’t to go back to the escort agency. ‘Bullshit,’ she said. ‘I’m there … what’s the difference, if you’re dead, I might as well be dead anyhow. We’re together. That’s it.’
For the next two weeks after the meeting with Burgess under the ancient Moreton Bay fig, Crocker’s business ran smoothly – it attracted no attention from police. None of the Crocker girls were busted. Then he got another phone call. He was told he owed $7560 in kickbacks for the month.
‘That’s a lot of money,’ Crocker exclaimed.
The voice at the other end of the line said: ‘That covers as many escort agencies as you wish to have.’
Crocker asked if the fee covered him starting up some OP or ‘on premises’ agencies.
‘So long as the boys don’t find out that you’re doing jobs on the premises, you don’t advertise as a massage, it will be classed as escort and comes under the $7560,’ the anonymous caller said.
‘Who am I talking to?’
‘It doesn’t matter. You need never know.’
‘Are you a police officer?’
‘No, I’m not.’
Crocker was given instructions about where to drop off the money. ‘He told me there was a toilet block at Davies Park South(s) Football Club, just inside the fence,’ recalled Crocker. ‘I was to take it into there, put it in the actual pedestal cubicle behind the pedestal, wrapped up in a brown paper pack. There was just a urine trough and a cubicle. Six o’clock in the evening on the dot … don’t be late, don’t be early …’
Crocker was short of cash come the day the money was due. The following day his places were raided by Harry Burgess.
Ante Up
In February and March of 1983 the Bjelke-Petersen Cabinet gave approval to build the Gold Coast’s Jupiters Casino and parliament discussed the Jupiters Agreement Bill. The casino tender had been awarded to Jennings Industries Ltd on behalf of Jupiters Hotel Ltd. The huge Jennings construction company had
‘Julie and I went down there and Harry Burgess was already sitting at that table, so we got out of the car,’ Crocker would later tell investigators. ‘He had another officer with him … I didn’t know him.’
Burgess came to the point. ‘Things are going to change,’ he supposedly told Crocker. ‘You’ve been getting phone calls telling you about busts and that.’
‘That’s right. I thought that might have been you.’
‘It was,’ Burgess said.
‘Why? What’s going on?’
‘From now on you’ve got to pay somebody,’ said Burgess.
‘What, you?’
‘No,’ he clarified. ‘You won’t be paying any police.’
‘I won’t pay police, I never have and I never will.’
‘Well, I’m telling you now what’s got to be done,’ Burgess went on. ‘After this discussion today, you’ll get a phone call and you’ll be told how much money to leave at a certain spot, each time of the month, and if it’s not there I’ll bust you and put you in gaol. If you don’t cooperate, Julie, your wife …’
Crocker arced up. ‘Don’t you frighten Julie because there’s no need to …’
Crocker saw that his wife was shaking.
‘No need to be, if you just do what you’re told, it’ll be alright. It’ll be a lot better. I guarantee you, you won’t go to gaol … but if you don’t cooperate and you do anything silly, you could easily be found face down.’
Crocker asked if this was ‘heavy, big-time stuff’.
‘Yes, it is,’ Burgess warned him.
‘Julie and I can’t end up dead out of this,’ he said.
‘Well, if you don’t do as you’re told, you can, by all means.’
Crocker and his wife took a moment to digest the threat. He told his wife in front of the two officers that she wasn’t to go back to the escort agency. ‘Bullshit,’ she said. ‘I’m there … what’s the difference, if you’re dead, I might as well be dead anyhow. We’re together. That’s it.’
For the next two weeks after the meeting with Burgess under the ancient Moreton Bay fig, Crocker’s business ran smoothly – it attracted no attention from police. None of the Crocker girls were busted. Then he got another phone call. He was told he owed $7560 in kickbacks for the month.
‘That’s a lot of money,’ Crocker exclaimed.
The voice at the other end of the line said: ‘That covers as many escort agencies as you wish to have.’
Crocker asked if the fee covered him starting up some OP or ‘on premises’ agencies.
‘So long as the boys don’t find out that you’re doing jobs on the premises, you don’t advertise as a massage, it will be classed as escort and comes under the $7560,’ the anonymous caller said.
‘Who am I talking to?’
‘It doesn’t matter. You need never know.’
‘Are you a police officer?’
‘No, I’m not.’
Crocker was given instructions about where to drop off the money. ‘He told me there was a toilet block at Davies Park South(s) Football Club, just inside the fence,’ recalled Crocker. ‘I was to take it into there, put it in the actual pedestal cubicle behind the pedestal, wrapped up in a brown paper pack. There was just a urine trough and a cubicle. Six o’clock in the evening on the dot … don’t be late, don’t be early …’
Crocker was short of cash come the day the money was due. The following day his places were raided by Harry Burgess.
Ante Up
In February and March of 1983 the Bjelke-Petersen Cabinet gave approval to build the Gold Coast’s Jupiters Casino and parliament discussed the Jupiters Agreement Bill. The casino tender had been awarded to Jennings Industries Ltd on behalf of Jupiters Hotel Ltd. The huge Jennings construction company had
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