An Alice Springs publican charged with 150 counts of unauthorised sales of liquor allegedly used his taxi to sell alcohol from his bar to his passengers multiple times throughout April and May.
Anthony, also known as Tony, Habib faced court earlier this week over the charges and an alleged breach of bail. The matter was adjourned until next month.
But court documents, obtained by the ABC, reveal the full extent of the allegations Mr Habib currently faces.
The alleged facts of the case state that Mr Habib's premises, Bojangles Restaurant and Saloon, was closed due to COVID-19 measures in late March, and then in April and May he illegally sold alcohol from his bar out of the taxi he was driving.
The documents further state that over two days police identified five transactions after intercepting passengers in different parts of Alice Springs with bottles of alcohol after they had allegedly purchased them from Mr Habib.
Police then arrested Mr Habib and seized two bottles of rum and $150 cash before he was taken to the Alice Springs Watch House and later bailed.
Taxi CCTV footage leads to more charges
The documents state the alleged offending was captured on various CCTV cameras and with a police drone, and that Mr Habib was initially charged with five counts of unauthorised sales of liquor.
However, the alleged facts further state that in the days following the arrest CCTV footage from Mr Habib's taxi was also seized by police and subsequently reviewed.
As a result, many more alleged transactions were observed over the course of April and May, bringing a total of 150 counts.
The court documents show Mr Habib allegedly followed a pattern of negotiating the type and price of alcohol with his passengers before telling them to wait for him at a certain location while he went to Bojangles to collect the liquor.
He would then allegedly return it to the passenger to complete the transaction, which could range from $150 for a bottle of rum to four bottles of chardonnay wine for $100, and often instruct the passenger to hide the alcohol.
Mr Habib will appear again in court on August 17.
