Alex Vella
Encyclopedia
Alessio Emmanuel "Alex" Vella (born 1954), or The Maltese Falcon, is a Maltese
-Australia
n businessman, former boxer and National President of the Rebels Motorcycle Club
. Despite having lived in Australia since the 1960s, he is not a citizen of the country. This caused visa
problems when he was in Tokyo
, Japan
with his son Adam
(also a boxer) for a boxing match.
Vella was born into a strict Catholic
family in Malta
and was one of eleven children. His parents lived in a cave with no electricity and a well for water. He began work at the age of eight, carrying buckets of water on a building site for 30 cents a day, and is functionally illiterate. He and his family then moved to Australia
in the 1960s and established a strawberry farm near Horsley Park, New South Wales
. In his 20s, he sometimes worked two or three jobs at a time; as a bouncer
, labourer and bricklayer. He also joined the Rebels Motorcycle Club
while pursuing a promising career as a boxer
; he eventually became the Maltese light-heavyweight champion. After a serious road accident, he received $225,000 in compensation and used this money to set up a business importing and selling motorcycles. In 1990, police found a $15,000 stash of marijuana while searching his home, which they believed to be a methamphetamine
factory. He received a fairly light sentence, however; 18-months of two-nights-a-week prison, and two-days-a-week community service. He has also been arrested, but not convicted, of a number of other crimes including stabbing two men and assaulting a woman. He was freed on appeal after being given six months' jail for the latter.
On May 28, 2008, Vella won a court case against the ANZ Bank
. He sued them for $2.7 million after his former business partner, Tony Caradonna, re-mortgaged three properties, including the Rebels' club house, for $2.4 million by falsifying Vella's signature. He also claimed $300,000 was fraudulently withdrawn from their joint bank account.
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
-Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n businessman, former boxer and National President of the Rebels Motorcycle Club
Rebels Motorcycle Club
The Rebels Motorcycle Club is an outlaw motorcycle club in Australia with around 70 chapters and 2,000 members nation-wide. This makes them the largest club in the country. It was founded by Clint Jacks in Brisbane, Queensland in 1969 and was originally named the "Confederates". Their insignia is a...
. Despite having lived in Australia since the 1960s, he is not a citizen of the country. This caused visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
problems when he was in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
with his son Adam
Adam Vella (boxer)
Adam Vella is a middleweight boxer from Sydney, Australia. His professional record is 19 wins , 2 losses and no draws. Vella is of Maltese descent and his father is Alex Vella, the national president of the notorious Rebels motorcycle gang.-References:...
(also a boxer) for a boxing match.
Vella was born into a strict Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
family in Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and was one of eleven children. His parents lived in a cave with no electricity and a well for water. He began work at the age of eight, carrying buckets of water on a building site for 30 cents a day, and is functionally illiterate. He and his family then moved to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in the 1960s and established a strawberry farm near Horsley Park, New South Wales
Horsley Park, New South Wales
Horsley Park is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Horsley Park is located 39 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. Horsley Park is part of the Greater Western Sydney region...
. In his 20s, he sometimes worked two or three jobs at a time; as a bouncer
Bouncer (doorman)
A bouncer is an informal term for a type of security guard employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs or concerts to provide security, check legal age, and refuse entry to a venue based on criteria such as intoxication, aggressive behavior, or attractiveness...
, labourer and bricklayer. He also joined the Rebels Motorcycle Club
Rebels Motorcycle Club
The Rebels Motorcycle Club is an outlaw motorcycle club in Australia with around 70 chapters and 2,000 members nation-wide. This makes them the largest club in the country. It was founded by Clint Jacks in Brisbane, Queensland in 1969 and was originally named the "Confederates". Their insignia is a...
while pursuing a promising career as a boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
; he eventually became the Maltese light-heavyweight champion. After a serious road accident, he received $225,000 in compensation and used this money to set up a business importing and selling motorcycles. In 1990, police found a $15,000 stash of marijuana while searching his home, which they believed to be a methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
factory. He received a fairly light sentence, however; 18-months of two-nights-a-week prison, and two-days-a-week community service. He has also been arrested, but not convicted, of a number of other crimes including stabbing two men and assaulting a woman. He was freed on appeal after being given six months' jail for the latter.
On May 28, 2008, Vella won a court case against the ANZ Bank
ANZ Bank
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited , commonly called ANZ, is the fourth largest bank in Australia, after the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac Banking Corporation and the National Australia Bank. Australian operations make up the largest part of ANZ's business, with commercial and retail...
. He sued them for $2.7 million after his former business partner, Tony Caradonna, re-mortgaged three properties, including the Rebels' club house, for $2.4 million by falsifying Vella's signature. He also claimed $300,000 was fraudulently withdrawn from their joint bank account.