Mad Ron plays white knight

Queensland reseller Ron Bakir has run off to Bali on a quest to rescue damsel in distress Schapelle Corby, who is facing a potential death sentence for allegedly smuggling 4.1 kilos of cannabis in her luggage.

Corby, a 27-year-old trainee beautician, was arrested by Balinese police on 8 October as she tried to enter the Indonesian island after 4.1 kilos of marijuana was found in her bodyboard bag.

Vince Amore, director at Gold Coast mobile phone reseller Mad Ron’s and business partner of Ron Bakir, said Bakir had flown to Bali on Thursday with a team of lawyers to help with Corby’s defense.

“It’s something that we as directors got a notion of doing,” Amore said. “She’s a Gold Coast girl.”

Corby has repeatedly asserted her innocence.

If convicted she faces death by firing squad or life imprisonment under Indonesian law. The cannabis found has been claimed to have a street value of some $80,000, meaning Corby faces charges of both importation and dealing.

He said there was no family or other connection between Bakir, the company or Corby that prompted the plan.

“None whatsoever,” Amore said. “We just want to make sure she gets a fair trial.”

The Australian legal team would be funded by Ron Bakir and would assist Corby’s defence lawyers with gathering evidence needed to prove the origin of the drug stash.

An AAP report has suggested there may have been “serious anomalies” in statements made about Corby’s travel movements prior to landing in Bali.

A criminal lawyer on Bakir’s legal team, Robin Tampoe, was quoted as saying that certain “key evidence” was involved.

Tampoe also criticised the Australian government for “a lack of cooperation” with the investigation, the report said.

Amore said it was not known how long Bakir would be in Bali, or how long the investigation would take. The company would do what it could to help Corby, he said.

Bakir last hit the headlines when he was running Crazy Ron’s, which became embroiled in a legal stoush with rival mobile phone reseller Crazy John’s over the use of that name.

Ron Bakir was unavailable to comment further at press time.