Paul Sequenzia Paul Sequenzia was recently asked to leave a restricted area at a metropolitan meeting by Harness Racing Victoria investigators.
POLICE have moved to ban a Mokbel family associate and accused race-fixer from Victorian tracks.
Paul Sequenzia was recently asked to leave a restricted area at a metropolitan meeting by Harness Racing Victoria investigators. They want to take that further and have made a submission for Victoria Police to ban him from tracks.
Mr Sequenzia remains a regular presence at harness-racing meetings, to the concern of some industry figures.
Allegations he has been involved in a cobalt horse-doping program and that he is connected to a race-fixing syndicate have some questioning what he is doing on-track.
Harness racing authorities are also examining Mr Sequenzia’s sale of his star horse Fake Smile last year.
“We have an investigation going into the legitimacy of the ownership of the horse,” Harness Racing Victoria integrity manager Andy Rogers said.
Investigators are understood to harbour suspicions he still has control of the horse, which won eight starts in a row before the sequence was finally broken at Melton last month.
Mr Sequenzia had previously been investigated over his ownership of another star, Sushi Sushi, which won more than $1.1 million.
Banning notices can be issued against anyone suspected of using a racetrack for criminal purposes, or where it was deemed an exclusion would be in the public interest.
The criteria for banning includes being suspected of using racecourses for criminality, or whether it was considered to be in the public interest. Those who are banned have their photos provided to racing authorities and track security staff.
Sequenzia’s network includes figures suspected of doping horses with substances including cobalt, an inquiry heard. He and his Royal Flush Group owned the horse Em Maguane, named after 1990s Collingwood player Mick Maguane and which tested positive for doping agent EPO in 2009, according to Harness Racing Victoria.
Sequenzia’s racing licence application was refused as a result and other Royal Flush Group horses were stood down.
His 2004 drug trafficking charges were dropped and he has been spotted by police attending TABs with members of the Mokbel clan, according to court documents.
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