Police have charged the wife of former Coffin Cheater Troy Mercanti with stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a trust fund set up for the benefit of the children of slain gang member Marc Chabriere.In an attempt to ward off violence between the Cheaters and Mercanti's new gang the Finks, police and the Australian Crime Commission launched an investigation into the allegations last year.Yesterday they charged Tammy Cherie Kingdon with four counts of stealing and one of property laundering.It is understood that police are also investigating the theft of money from a trust fund set up by Mercanti in 2000 after the death of his close friend Richard Vickers.Police would not confirm last night whether any of the four stealing charges related to the Vickers trust.It is believed the property laundering charge flows from using the allegedly stolen funds in the purchase of the Finks' Balga clubhouse in Ms Kingdon's name last year.Ms Kingdon was at home when gang crime squad officers raided the family's Duncraig house yesterday.
She was released on bail to appear in Joondalup Magistrate's Court on Thursday. Mercanti, who is in jail for assault, is understood to have been charged with offences related to the same investigation.Mr Chabriere was shot dead in a hail of bullets in 1998 at the height of the gang war between the Coffin Cheaters and Club Deroes.Andrew Wayne Edhouse was charged but acquitted of the murder.After Mr Chabriere's funeral, the Coffin Cheaters organised a trust fund to help provide for Mr Chabriere's children.Senior gang members were put in charge of the trust, including Mercanti, who was sensationally expelled from the gang in 2008 on "bad standing" after being bashed by up to 15 members.Within months, Mercanti joined the Finks bikie gang and a Finks member was shot in the shoulder as he rode his motorcycle with three other men near Wooroloo, sparking fears of a new and deadly gang war.
The Finks Balga clubhouse was then bought in Mrs Mercanti's name.Mercanti was refused parole this month and is not due for release until next year.