Former union delegate and bikie fined $2,000 over illegal debt collection

Prosecutors have dropped a blackmail charge against a former CFMEU delegate with links to criminal bikie gangs, allowing him to leave court with a $2,000 fine.

Joel Leavitt was charged with blackmailing a business owner to the tune of $663,000 in January.

Leavitt, along with several others, were arrested by detectives from Taskforce Hawk, the Victoria Police squad investigating corruption in the building sector.

On Thursday Leavitt pleaded guilty to failing to provide his phone PIN code to police and being a prohibited person engaging in debt collection.

An assault conviction from 2023 meant Leavitt was not allowed to work as a debt collector.

Magistrate Donna Bakos convicted Leavitt and fined him $2,000.

During the hearing, prosecutors withdrew the more serious charge of blackmail, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years' jail.

Blackmail charges were also dropped against co-accused Thomas Sheehan, Emin Mehmedovic, Napoleon Brown and Jared Davis.

Earlier this year, police described Leavitt as a patched member of the Bandidos.

Leavitt was also named in a report tendered to Queensland's Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU, which detailed his alleged criminal history, links to the Rebels gang and involvement in Victoria's construction industry.

Report author Geoffrey Watson SC labelled him a "violent" and "brutal" criminal.

On Thursday, the court heard Leavitt and several other men turned up at the Cedar Meats abattoir in Brooklyn to meet with its chief executive officer, Jason Hopp.

Mr Hopp was the director of a company linked to a land development project that had racked up large debts to Mr Sheehan's earthmoving business, the prosecutor said.

During the meeting, which was recorded, Leavitt questioned why Mr Sheehan had gone unpaid.

"That needs to be fixed up. I'm told you're the man who pays all the bills,"

he said.

Mr Hopp said he was not responsible for the debt. When Mr Hopp asked Leavitt what his role was, Leavitt replied he was "a consultant", the court heard.

"What I would like you to do is to have a talk with the financiers. Tell them there is people chasing debts to you because they are owed money," Leavitt told him.

Defence barrister Christopher Terry said his client had not been threatening or violent during the interaction.

"If anything, he's polite and reasonable," he said.

However, the prosecutor said Mr Hopp was "terrified" by the encounter and moved his family into a hotel.

Mr Terry said work for his client's demolition company had dried up after the scrutiny by Taskforce Hawk and media reporting.

"He really is living off his wife's income, but he wants to change that with a move to somewhere he can go and earn a living again," Mr Terry said.

Mr Watson's report into the CFMEU, titled Rotting From The Top, included claims Leavitt earned more than $200,000 as a union official and was given a government-funded car.

Witnesses mentioned in the report accused Leavitt of demanding money from employees for work, and said Leavitt's friends and bikie associates were given shifts on highly-paid rail projects.

Mr Watson said he had no doubt the Victorian government knew about CFMEU corruption but did nothing as it wanted its Big Build projects to be completed.