George Freeman (bookmaker)

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George Freeman
SP bookmaking
The grave of George Freeman

George David Freeman (22 January 1935 – 20 March 1990) was an Australian

SP bookmaking in the mid-1980s. Freeman survived a murder attempt in 1979, was married twice, published an autobiography and died in 1990 of heart failure related to asthma and pethidine
addiction.

Early life

George Freeman was born in

stable hand and earned money hustling. Freeman stated in his 1988 autobiography that his boyhood hero was the notorious Australian criminal Darcy Dugan.[5]

In 1951, he began a sentence for various theft offences, serving two years originally at the Mount Penang Training School near

Gosford and later at Tamworth Boys' Home. He also served time in Parramatta Gaol for stealing. On 5 February 1963, he married Marcia Bedford, formerly McDonald, in Sydney.[6]

After time in Fremantle Prison in 1968, he travelled to the United States on a false passport and met crime figure Joe Testa.[citation needed]

Main career

During the 1970s and 1980s, George Freeman was involved in the

organised crime in Sydney's clubs, though Freeman denied involvement. He was later alleged to be part of a plot to bribe State politicians who were planning to set up a casino regulatory board in a bid to curb illegal gambling.[citation needed
]

Freeman divorced his wife Marcia in 1977. The following year he was named in State Parliament as an "organised crime" figure and referred to as a "crime boss" in the Woodward Royal Commission. A police report in 1979 alleged he was involved in illegal bookmaking. On 25 April that year he was shot in the neck by an unknown attacker.[6]

Freeman married 24-year-old

orthoptist Georgina McLaughlin on 6 August 1981. He was named in two further Royal Commissions during the 1980s, the Stewart Royal Commission and Street Royal Commission (also known as the Wran Royal Commission) into corruption within the New South Wales Rugby League. During the Street Commission, Freeman admitted he travelled to the USA on a forged passport to visit known Chicago mobster, Joseph Dan Testa, who was also associated with Australian gangster and friend of Freeman's, Lennie McPherson.[7][8] In April 1979, an Independent MP for NSW electorate of South Coast, Mr John Hatton, referred to Freeman in Parliament as "the Australian contact man for one Danny Stein, nominated as an associate of notorious American organised crime figures, including Meyer Lansky...".[9]

Despite accusations of murder, assault, race-fixing, bribery, illegal gambling and involvement in the drug trade, Freeman's only criminal convictions after 1967 were for SP bookmaking in 1983 and 1986, resulting in fines of $500 and $5,000.[6][10] His autobiography George Freeman: An Autobiography, was published in 1988.[11]

Death

After several years of poor health, suffering from

Caringbah on 20 March 1990. He was buried at Waverley Cemetery in Bronte, Eastern Sydney.[3][6]

In popular culture

He was portrayed by

Mr Asia drug syndicate, and responsible for the unsolved murder of a hitman, Christopher Flannery
.

References

  1. ^ Walsh, G. P. "George David Freeman (1935–1990)". Freeman, George David (1935–1990). Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  2. ^ Dunn, Ross; Nixon, James (23 August 1984). "Gangs battle for Chinatown casino empire". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 45, 757. p. 1.
  3. ^ a b Markson, Sharri; Sexton, Jennifer (24 May 2009). "Our Dad, the Underbelly hero". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  4. ^ Sydney Morning Herald. 22 June 1946. Page 13, Law Notices.Divorces Court- Decree nisi granted to: Rita Eileen Freeman (petitioner), v William David Freeman.
  5. ISBN 0 7316 2589 7
    ).
  6. ^ a b c d Walsh, G. P. (5 December 2008). "George David Freeman (1935–1990)". Freeman, George David. Australian Dictionary of Biography. ANU. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  7. ^ Brown, M; Mercer, N (1 July 1983). "Freeman denies he asked Farquhar for any favour". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 January 2012 – via Google News.
  8. ^ David Hickie (1985). The Prince and the Premier: The story of Perce Galea, Bob Askin and the others who gave organised crime its start in Australia (p. 238). NSW, Australia: Angus & Robertson Publishers.
  9. ^ The Sydney Morning Herald (16 September 1979). "Evidence Mafia already has a toehold in Australia".
  10. ^ "Freeman says arrest was 'political'". The Sydney Morning Herald. 31 October 1984. Retrieved 22 June 2009. [dead link]
  11. ISBN 0 7316 2589 7
    .)
  12. ^ "George_Freeman". Museums of History New South Wales. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  13. ^ McWhirter, Erin (5 December 2008). "First pictures of Underbelly prequel A Tale of Two Cities". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
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