The gangster uncle of Kanye West’s Aussie ‘wife’ Bianca Censori is hit by new court blow – after he was almost thrown back in jail for LIFE for living with a suspected paedophile
The gangster uncle of Kanye West‘s wife Bianca Censori has been ordered to foot the bill for police lawyers amid claims he deliberately prolonged his legal challenge.
Eris Censori, who was once sentenced to death in Western Australia for murdering a waiter, was dubbed the ‘Al Capone of Melbourne‘ before his life of crime crumbled.
Daily Mail Australia revealed in May the notorious criminal faced being thrown back in jail for life after he was caught up in a police raid while living with a suspected paedophile.
Although cleared of any wrongdoing, the bust saw Censori hauled before the Adult Parole Board where he faced being returned to jail to see out his life sentence.
In a statement of claim filed against the State of Victoria with the Supreme Court of Victoria, Censori alleged the search that put him in front of the parole board was obtained ‘through misfeasance and in the absence of facts’.
The court heard on Wednesday that the matter was at risk of being terminated if Censori continued to delay proceedings, which began in August last year.
Censori had been arrested by Victoria Police detectives in September 2020 on suspicion of fraud.
But the discovery of a mobile phone belonging to his housemate – which allegedly contained child pornography – threatened to put him back behind bars for good.
Eris Censori (right) and his brother Leo, who is the father of Kanye West’s wife Bianca
Kanye West and Bianca Censori. Bianca is the daughter of Melbourne crime boss royalty
Censori – who has changed his name to Tony Campana – claimed his arrest ‘defamed’ his good character and ’caused him to suffer public ridicule, shame and scorn’.
The court heard Censori had originally represented himself in court, but quickly chose to find a legal team.
Although now represented by a barrister, the court heard Censori had failed to comply with orders made on July 17 for him to amend his statement of claim.
‘That hasn’t happened,’ Censori’s barrister Tim Sowden told the court.
No reasons were offered for the cause of the delay, with Mr Sowden suggesting his client would comply with the orders within the next two weeks.
Daniel Wallis, who acted on behalf of Victoria Police and the State Government, said he had concerns Censori would continue to cause delays, which would prompt an application by him to have the matter struck out of court.
‘Orders were actually initially made by your honour in December last year,’ he said.
The court heard Censori had until December 22 to comply with those orders, but failed to do so.
‘Subsequently after further emailing, further orders were made by your honour in July last year and … again they were not complied with,’ Mr Wallis said.
‘You’ve had two sets of orders completely not complied with … a lot of time has been lost and wasted in this case that the defendant is in a position whereby it has been previously foreshadowed a strike-out application.’
Leo Censori’s ex-wife blew the whistle on his life of crime in 1991 in Melbourne’s Herald Sun
Bianca Censori is the daughter of a former criminal and the niece of a ruthless killer
That application is likely to be lodged if Censori does not comply with the orders by Wednesday, Mr Wallis said.
‘So that’s really why we’re here and why we are concerned,’ he said.
Judicial Registrar Baker took aim at Censori’s lawyer, declaring his client did not have a great record of complying with orders by the court.
He warned Censori if he didn’t comply this time he faced having the matter struck out of court.
‘One way or the other, we’re going to know what’s happening before that time,’ Mr Baker said.
Mr Wallis’s call for Censori to pay his legal expenses for Wednesday’s hearing was unopposed by his lawyer.
‘We say we simply ought not be here today,’ Mr Wallis argued.
Mr Sowden agreed.
‘I’ve sort of fallen on my sword so I’m not going to be thumping the bar table (about it),’ Mr Sowden said.
The matter is expected to return to court next month where it will either go ahead to trial or be struck out.
Kanye West and Bianca Censori. Bianca’s uncle was sentenced to die before having it overturned
He is the brother of Bianca’s father Elia ‘Leo’ Censori, who also did hard jail time after being convicted in 1982 on a charge of possessing a prohibited import after an Australian Federal Police raid found heroin in his kitchen.
Daily Mail Australia last year revealed Leo also has convictions for possession of a pistol and ammunition and served two years of his five-year sentence over the drug charges.
Their eldest brother, Edmondo, known as ‘Eddie Capone’, also has convictions in Victoria for violence, including assaulting police, theft and threats.
In documents provided to the court, Bianca’s uncle claimed police used his sale of a Brunswick property to obtain the search warrant under the guise of investigating an alleged fraud against the Bank of Queensland.
At the time of his arrest, Censori had been rooming in Bulleen, north-east of Melbourne, with two other men.
‘(Censori) was in his bedroom which had a window view of the front courtyard, when he noticed the gate open and an accompaniment of six large men entered all armed with handguns,’ documents stated.
‘(He) immediately suspected the accompaniment were members of Victoria Police. The thought filled him with apprehension.’
Police had alleged the Brunswick property he sold had been purchased off him with fraudulently-obtained funds.
‘I think you’ve made a mistake. I am the vendor. I didn’t raise any money with any bank,’ Censori told the detectives.
Escorted to his bedroom, Censori claimed cops asked him to hand over documents related to the sale before being asked for access to his phone and computer.
‘Towards the completion of the search, (Censori) was shown a mobile phone retrieved from the bedroom of another occupant and asked questions about the occupier of the said bedroom and contents of the mobile phone,’ documents stated.
Bianca’s dad Leo Censori was a gambling kingpin who did hard time over a heroin bust
‘Any criminal charges, even the allegation of being involved in crime, could result in a breach of parole, resulting in me being returned to prison and ultimately deported,’ he told the detective.
At the conclusion of the search, Censori claimed he was handcuffed and paraded in front of his neighbours before being taken to the police station to be interviewed.
After being fingerprinted and grilled by police, Censori was cut loose without charge.
Censori claimed the parole board caught up with him in January 2021 where he was grilled about his relationship with the suspected paedophile.
Censori claimed he told the board he had no relationship with his housemate, knoiwn as ‘Mohamed’, and knew nothing of the contents of his phone.
In bringing the matter to court, Censori claimed the lead detective ‘displayed contumelious [scornful] disregard for [his] right to privacy and freedom, inflicting harm with malice’.
In a long list of claims, Censori alleged police searched bedrooms and took possession of items not within the purview authorised by its warrant and ‘deliberately encouraged a perception in the eyes of the Parole Board (he) was implicated in another’s crime’.
He further accused police of assault, false arrest and imprisonment and setting a malicious prosecution in motion.
In a statement responding to the claim, Victoria Police defended the way it went about arresting Censori.
Kanye West, left and, Bianca Censori arrive during last year’s NFL Super Bowl
‘(Censori) was under arrest for conspiracy to defraud the Bank of Queensland and (he) was formally cautioned following which (he) stated he understood,’ the defence stated.
Police denied assaulting Censori, arresting him illegally or undertaking a malicious prosecution.
It further dismissed suggestions Censori’s arrest had ‘defamed’ his good character.
‘It denies that it defamed the Plaintiff, and says further that the Statement of Claim does not disclose a cause of action for defamation,’ lawyers for the government stated.
‘It denies that any matter published or caused to be published by the Defendant has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the Plaintiff.’
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