.. from Ozbiker.org 22/3/04

One of Western Australia's original members of the Gypsy Jokers, whose assets have been seized under WA laws designed to bring down criminal 'Mr Bigs' claims the laws are too tough and too open to corruption.

Mr Les Hoddy, a founding member of the Gypsy Jokers, is still the only person to have his assets frozen under the three-year-old laws without being charged with a drugs offence.
To get his property back, he must prove his boat, Harley-Davidson motorcycle, Holden Commodore car, two trucks, trucking equipment, Maddington home and Bellevue trucking yard were bought using legally obtained funds. Police also seized $48,000 worth of cash and cheques, and put the total value of the seizure at $620,000.

Mr Hoddy reckons that valuation is too high.

"It's not really a lot for me to make over a lifetime of work anyway," Mr Hoddy said.

In his first ever media interview, the 55-year-old grandfather said he had provided paperwork to police that showed Les Hoddy Trucking had earned at least $1.37 million between 1986 and 1997.

Copies of those accounts were provided to the media. Mr Hoddy said his business had been destroyed by the truck seizure and he had been forced to do labouring work to feed himself.

"They come and seize and freeze and then they ask you to explain and it takes you two years to get to court," he said.

"In the meantime, what do you do? Do you starve? Your whole family suffers."

Mr Hoddy said the laws could easily be used by corrupt law enforcement officials to strangle innocent, hard-working members of society.

"This law can target anybody," he said. "I've got an extensive work history. I've worked hard all my life and it's taken me nearly two years now to try to get it to court and I've got nowhere.

"This law is there to break people. It can stop any business at a minute's notice."

Mr Hoddy admitted bike clubs had a bad image and many people would have little sympathy for him because he was a biker.

"But I think everyone who knows of me knows I'm a hard-working person and don't give anybody any grief," he said.

". . . I think they (police) try to paint a false picture for their own benefit to be able to bring these laws in."

Mr Hoddy told the states only full time statewide paper The West Australian he had convictions for breaking and entering, escaping from Fremantle Prison and possession of personal-use drugs.

Although he admitted Gypsy Jokers members, including former leader Len Kirby, had been convicted of drug dealing, he said the club was not a group of organised criminals.

His lawyer, Vesna Amidzic, said the case was progressing through the court system slowly but civil cases were often slow in reaching a conclusion