The One About the Australian Sex Tape, an Alleged Mobster, and Debt Collection

When Patrick asked me if I wanted to cover a story about debt collectors, Australia, and a sex tape I said, “Don’t even pay me for this one. The story is its own reward.”

First thing: the whole saga is like a porn version of The Soprano, only with out the self-congratulatory patina that show suffers from. Like, remember how, in the ’90s, everyone tried to get you to try ceviche and EVERYONE would fall all over themselves trying to tell you how gripping the storytelling was on The Sopranos. “He’s a jerk, but you care about him?” “Oh. That sounds aw–” “It’s like a Greek tragedy, but there are boobs and women are treated SUPER badly.” “Yay?”

This story is just as complicated:

There’s this guy, Anthony “Tony” Swords, because of COURSE there is. Mr Swords (of the Algonquin Round Table Swords) would sometimes use the name “Mick Gatto” when he — Mr Swords — was working as a debt collector.

There’s this other guy, Fred Dimauro, and he allegedly owed money to several people, including a football star — or, maybe, rather, “star”? — Warwick Capper. (NOT Warwick Davis, who played that little fella in the movie Willow.)

Swords, under the guise of Mick Gatto, confronted Dimauro’s wife Jackie about money owed to Warwick Capper (and others).

Warwick Capper likes making sex tapes with ex-girlfriends because romance isn’t dead and what better way to treat women then by– you know what? We’re all feminists here. I don’t need to finish that sentence.

Fred Dimauro helped Warwick Capper with the production of his, erm, “art films,” and this is where some of the alleged debt comes from. So Tony Swords, disguised as Mick Gatto, did a little — I’m sorry, ALLEGEDLY did a little — heavy strong-arming and what not to get the money owed to Warwick Capper. (And if you haven’t, PLEASE do a Google Image Search for Warwick Capper, but do it from home and not on your work computer unless you want to have several uncomfortable conversations with your IT guys.)

Oh, and just who is Mick Gatto? He’s an alleged Australian mobster. A company, Gatto Corporate Solutions, shares his name:

“So you read the papers, heard the name, perhaps even watched a TV Series, in turn you have googled the name Gatto. Perhaps you have been told ‘get Gatto to solve your problems’ but who is Gatto?”

The site never answers that question, but Wikipedia does:

“In 2004 Mick Gatto was charged with the murder of suspected underworld hitman Andrew Veniamin and remanded in custody for 18 months. He was found not guilty at trial, during which Gatto claimed he had acted in self-defence after Veniamin pulled out a .38 and threatened to kill him. Gatto claims that during a struggle he was able to turn the gun around on Veniamin and fire one shot into his neck, and one shot in the eye. He also claimed that during the argument, Veniamin had implicated himself in the deaths of Dino Dibra, Paul Kallipolitis and Graham Kinniburgh.”

To be clear: Mick Gatto is in no way involved with Gatto Corporate Solutions. That’s ALL Tony Swords’s jam. “I’m the sole director and sole shareholder. Mick allows me to use his name. I seek advice from him,” Swords has said.