“You behaved like an outlaw and a gangster.”

Those were the words of a County Court judge in sentencing a man who held a gun to the head of a Shepparton accountant while demanding half a million dollars from him.

Sam Ercan, 57, of the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, was found guilty by a jury in Melbourne County Court of aggravated burglary, common assault and extortion with a threat to kill.

Ercan and two associates — Hasan Genc and an unknown man — went to Shepparton accountant Steve Di Petta’s office at 9pm on November 15, 2019, after Genc organised a meeting with Mr Di Petta.

Genc went inside first, before Ercan and the other man entered armed with guns and told Mr Di Petta they were there to collect $500,000 they said he owed.

The court was told that when Mr Di Petta told the men he did not owe any money, Ercan pushed the handgun into Mr Di Petta’s leg and said “I’m going to remind you”.

He then put the gun against the accountant’s head and told him he would be back in seven days to collect the money.

He also told Mr Di Petta he knew where his son lived and where his daughter went to university, so he should not go to the police.

When Mr Di Petta said he could not arrange the money in seven days, Genc told him he had 30 days.

Ercan and the third man took the business’ CCTV hard drive with them when they left and dumped it in a nearby rubbish bin.

The court was told that meanwhile Genc was still in the office with Mr Di Petta and told him that the two men were Hells Angels bikies and were “not to be f***** with”.

When Genc left the office, he picked up the other men, and they drove back to Melbourne together.

Judge Geoffrey Chettle said a victim impact statement by Mr Di Petta told how both his work and home life had suffered after the incident.

He spoke of now having depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and said he was unable to return to work and was receiving ongoing psychological help.

The court heard Genc was sentenced to 12 months in prison — which he had already served — and a four-year community corrections order, which included 300 hours of community work, on charges of aggravated burglary, extortion and theft of the CCTV hard drive.

Judge Chettle sentenced Ercan to six years in jail, and ruled that he would have to serve four years before becoming eligible for parole.

The 182 days he has spent in prison on pre-sentence detention will count as time already served.

Judge Chettle said Ercan, a father-of-two who was born in Türkiye and moved to Australia at the age of four, had his own construction business.

Judge Chettle said the offending was “serious and concerning”.

“Not only did you carry a firearm, but you used it in a frightening manner,” he said.

“You threatened him (Mr Di Petta) and his children.”

Judge Chettle said that although there was “no evidence of the characteristics of the gun”, he said Mr Di Petta said he “believed it was real” and Ercan “acted and purported for it to be real”.

The judge rejected a defence submission that the incident was an “ill-conceived attempt to recover a business debt owed to Genc by Mr Di Petta”.

“Mr Di Petta made it clear he owed nobody money,” Judge Chettle said.

“You committed serious crimes in an attempt to gain serious rewards.”

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Sunday, 12th May 2024

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