theSun | THURSDAY JUNE 18 2009 9

news without borders

Aussie gang matriarch

accused over hit on relative
MELBOURNE: A under-
world matriarch was put be-
hind bars yesterday accused
over the execution-style kill-
ing of her brother-in-law in
a case police described as too
far fetched for television.
Gangland widow Judy
Moran (pix) was one of
three people charged over
the murder of Desmond
“Tuppence” Moran, a former
underworld enforcer who
died from multiple gunshot
wounds to the head on Mon-
day while enjoying coffee in
a suburban cafe.
The Moran family played
a major role in a gang war for
control of Melbourne’s drugs
trade that claimed some 30
lives between 1995 and 2004
and there were fears the lat-
est shooting could lead to a
renewal of hostilities.
Moran, 61, was shot at
close range by two balaclava-
wearing gunmen in a noon
hit in a cafe in the city’s Ascot
Vale area.
Witnesses who saw the
killing reported that Judy
Moran arrived at the scene
screaming “Dessy! Dessy!”
The 64-year-old had al-
ready lost her husband Lewis
and two sons Mark and
Jason in the Melbourne gang
war, which was dramatised
in the hit Australian series
Underbelly.
Since then, Judy Moran
has traded on her notoriety
as a gangland black widow
with frequent television ap-
pearances portraying her
family as unwitting victims
of underworld violence.
But she was accused in
a late-night court session on
Tuesday of helping orches-
trate the latest killing and
charged with being an ac-
cessory in Desmond Moran’s
murder. No motive has so far
been suggested.
Police told the court that
officers saw Judy Moran
dumping the getaway car
used in the murder that con-
tained a rifle and gun case,
while phone taps captured
her discussing disposing of
items used in the killing.
A subsequent search of
her house revealed handguns
clothing and a wig fitting the
description of items used in
the slaying, police said.
She was refused bail and
will reappear in court next
week.
Family friend Suzanne
Kane has also been charged
with being an accessory and
Kane’s boyfriend Geoffrey
Armour faces a murder
charge. – AFP

394 Koreans in race

to woo millionairess
SEOUL: Almost 400 South Koreans
have applied to marry a millionairess
who advertised for a soulmate but only
eight “serious-minded” applicants will
make the final cut, a matchmaking
agency said yesterday.
The 49-year-old woman who
is reportedly worth US$18 million
(RM61.2 million) has been seeking a
husband through an online advertise-
ment since May 20, a spokeswoman
for Sunoo matchmaking agency said.
Some 394 men – including doctors,
lawyers, accountants, soldiers and
government employees and ranging
in age from 26 to 49 years – responded
to the advertisement.
“As a business operator, she was
too busy to find her husband herself,”
said the spokeswoman.
“We initially planned to keep the
bid open until the end of this month
but the woman felt burdened by
unwelcome media attention and she Racist
wanted it closed on Tuesday.” attacks
The woman picked eight of the
men for interviews and is expected to in Belfast
meet two or three of them per month pg 11
over the next three months.
They are aged between 37 and
49 and include company employees,
teachers and bank workers.
“The bride prefers average but
serious persons to high-flying profes-
sionals,” the spokeswoman said.
“She wants a soulmate with a pas-
sion for life, who will share the ups
and downs of life with her.” – AFP

Group sues White House

over alleged lack of openness
WASHINGTON: A watch-
dog group seeking greater
transparency in government
on Tuesday filed a lawsuit
against the Barack Obama
administration for failing to
disclose a list of high-power
business executives who
visited the White House.
In filing its suit, the non-
profit group “Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington” (Crew) accused
the Obama White House of
adopting the same lack of
transparency of which the
George W. Bush administra-
tion was frequently accused.
At issue is a list of execu-
tives from the coal industry
who have been to the White
House and to the official
residence of Vice-President
Joseph Biden since Obama’s
Jan 20 inauguration.
The filing was made
“because President Obama
has been a proponent of
clean coal, and we wanted
to know to what extent these
people had an influence on
the formulation of the ad-
ministration energy policy,”
said Anne Weismann, Crew’s
chief counsel.
Weismann said that the
administration’s refusal to
produce the names is very
similar to actions by the Bush
White House, which refused
to divulge the names of parti-
pants at an energy task force,
which included powerful oil
executives, held at the White
House.
Weismann compared
Obama administration policy
to that of the Bush White
House, which critics said was
too secretive.
But unlike Bush, Obama,
she said, had campaigned on
a pledge of greater openness
during his administration.
“I don’t see how you can
say, I’m committed to trans-
parency but I’m not going
to let the public know who
comes to my house doing
official business with me,”
she said.
Meanwhile, Obama
spokesman Robert Gibbs on
Tuesday refuted charges of
secretiveness, but said the
White House is reviewing
the previous administra-
tion’s handling of similar
requests.
“Visitor logs have been
involved in some litigation
dating back to sometime in
2006,” Gibbs said.
“The White House is
reviewing that policy based
on some of that litigation,”
Gibbs said.
He added: “The president
underscored his commitment
to transparency on his first
full day in office. – AFP