Bali Nine mastermind 'living life of luxury'
A man suspected of orchestrating the Bali Nine drug smuggling operation is reportedly living the high life with a multi-million Lottery fortune as two junior members of the syndicate await imminent execution.
The suspect, who has not been identified, is believed to have won a jackpot prize of around $5 million at the same time two young Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were sentenced to death for their part in the 2005 heroin importation.
The unnamed suspect, who lives in Sydney, has been the subject of former police drug trafficking investigations but has always escaped prosecution, Fairfax reports.
He apparently halted his criminal activities after scooping his fortune.
Fairfax reports the payout occurred several years ago following the arrests of Chan and Sukumuran, whose low to mid-level role in the operation was to direct Australian couriers in Bali.
The pair, who were described by Indonesian authorities as ringleaders in the Bali Nine ring and are facing the firing squad for their crimes, have never revealed who they were working for, citing fear for their families back in Australia.
Police have never arrested the suppliers, main organisers and financiers of the operation.
Fairfax reports the portrayal of Sukumaran and Chan as key players in the Bali Nine operation may have damaged their chance of reprieve.
Lawyers for the death row prisoners have launched a last-minute legal bid, challenging the Indonesian presidential decree that denied them clemency.
Indonesia plans to send the drug smugglers to the firing squad this month.
The pair will get just 72 hours' notice.
