The alleged true target of a botched ransom attempt that saw an innocent elderly man killed is a wealthy property developer who has been pictured living the high life in Las Vegas and Monaco, wearing $7000 tracksuits.
Kidnappers who wrongly abducted Chris Baghsarian, 85, from his North Ryde home at 5am on February 13 were three houses away from their actual alleged target, a house where the father of one-time criminal Dimitri Stepanyan, 37, resided.
Unverified texts appear to show the kidnappers tried to land a $50million ransom from Stepanyan in exchange for his father, only to find out they had the wrong person.
A source has now told the Daily Mail that Stepanyan’s parents, Varo and Vanush, left Australia on Tuesday and will move into their son’s property in Armenia, where Dimitri has made a fortune in commercial and residential real estate.
They said Stepanyan – an alleged associate of the Alameddine crime family – is head of his family and will make sure they’re safe, but that he also feels ‘terrible’ for Mr Baghsarian, who was his parents’ ‘friendly’ neighbour for 20 years.
‘He described Chris and his family as very good people and Chris was a harmless gentleman that was friendly and loved by all the neighbours and had no links to the underworld,’ they said.
Stepanyan has been described as a Sydney businessman who used to run the fashion label Proper Streetwear, but the source said he left Australia last August and hasn’t returned since.
Unearthed photos show Stepanyan posing while wearing thousands of dollars worth of gear in a range of international locations, including prime seats with a glamorous brunette at a soccer match in London.
One photo shows Stepanyan standing in Las Vegas wearing a $7000 white matching Willy Chavarria tracksuit with white Nike Aire Force 1 sneakers.
A third photo showed Stepanyan walking down a street wearing a $450 Rivington Roi Rebis t-shirt.
In an archived version of his personal website says: ‘Dimitri Stepanyan is a name synonymous with ambition, creativity, and success.
‘As a dynamic entrepreneur and the visionary behind Proper Streetwear, he has redefined the world of fashion and business.’
The description has since been deleted.
Business records suggest he does not run the business anymore.
It comes after a legal source with knowledge of some of the major players in Sydney’s underworld told the Daily Mail those responsible for the botched abduction would be killed.
‘I’m told the fools who did this will be eliminated – for killing the wrong guy, but (also) for having the audacity to plan the abduction of the real target,’ the source said.