A luxury car dealership run by a wealthy businessman and member of a well-known Melbourne hospitality family has been firebombed.
Police are investigating the suspicious fire after three men allegedly smashed their way into the Aston Martin dealership on Swan Street, Richmond, on Thursday night and used fuel to light a fire and flee in a getaway car.
Two cleaners were inside the dealership at the time, but escape uninjured. The building sustained only minor damage.
The dealership’s website lists Bobby Zagame as the managing director and owner. He is the managing director of the Zagame Automotive Group, which holds exclusive dealership rights over prestige brands including Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Bently and Ferrari, according to the Australian Financial Review.
An employee at the dealership said he could not comment on the firebombing when contacted by The Age on Friday morning.
Bobby and his brother Victor Jr also manage the Zagame Corporation hospitality empire founded by their father Victor Zagame in 1971. The family made their fortune in pokie pubs and last year sold CBD venue The Garden State Hotel for $35 million.
Zagame Corporation owns a Caulfield pub and a steakhouse, a 97-room hotel in Carlton and luxury hotel and casino in Vanuatu.
It is unclear whether the firebombing of the Aston Martin dealership is linked to a wave of attacks on hospitality venues and owners across Melbourne. A police spokesperson said detectives would attend the business this morning to investigate further.
The Age on Thursday revealed venue owners targeted in firebombings had begun receiving extortion demands for $10,000 a month. “Your payment of 10k per month starts today,” messages to owners read. “Hurry the f— up.”
Threatening messages were previously sent to venues, believed to have been delivered by an Iraq-based gang known as “the Cartel”, which includes a 23-year-old who was a key member of Kazem “Kaz” Hamad’s organised crime crew. The crew were behind the tobacco wars.
The Richmond dealership on Swan Street has long been the head office of Bobby Zagame’s car retail business. In 2013, he paid about $10 million for neighbouring properties to expand his car empire and control about 9000 square metres of the major thoroughfare.
Bobby Zagame and his wife in 2024 sold their Toorak mansion for at least $30 million, which they had bought from the celebrity chef behind Vue de Monde, Shannon Bennett, and his former partner actor Madeleine West.
Zagame in 2015 bought the site of The Age’s printing press in Tullamarine for $16 million from Fairfax Media. The Zagame family in 2019 paid a record-breaking $54.28 million for a suburban office block in Hawthorn, before seeking to sell four years later.
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Angus Delaney is a reporter at The Age. Email him at angus.delaney@theage.com.au or contact him securely on Signal at angusdelaney.31Connect via email.
