Mohammad Qais Niazy, a former associate of the Hells Angels and core member of the Afghani Murderers gang, will remain in custody after an incident at Salesforce Tower in Sydney. Niazy, who was scheduled for deportation a decade ago, was arrested Tuesday night for defecating and urinating on the lobby floor of the building.
Police were alerted to the offensive act, which occurred near the elevators of the Circular Quay skyscraper around 1:15 p.m. on Monday. Workers discovered the scene, and an investigation led to Niazy's identification as the perpetrator.
Prior to his arrest for the Salesforce Tower incident, Niazy was apprehended earlier on Monday in Bridge Street for an unrelated incident involving alleged yelling and attempts to fight staff. He was granted bail on the condition he avoid Sydney Town Hall. However, he was arrested at Circular Quay ferry wharf late Tuesday night and taken to Day Street police station, where bail was refused.
Legal Proceedings and Charges
Niazy appeared in Bail Division Court 7 on Wednesday, facing charges including behaving in an offensive manner in a public place, damaging property valued under $2,000 (related to the bodily fluids left on the floor), intimidating a man, and breaching bail. He pleaded guilty to the Salesforce Tower offenses and was sent for a mental health assessment before returning to police custody.
During a court appearance on Thursday, Niazy was again refused bail. The matters have been adjourned until later this month. He has a history of mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia, and has been admitted to mental health facilities multiple times since his late teenage years.
Criminal History and Deportation Issues
Niazy, an Afghan national, arrived in Australia in 2005. His permanent residency visa was canceled on character grounds by then-immigration minister Peter Dutton in January 2016, with the expectation of deportation upon completion of his legal matters. However, after serving a sentence for firearms offenses in 2017, Niazy was held at immigration facilities. His application for a protection visa was initially refused but later granted in February 2019 by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which found he was owed protection due to severe mental health issues.
His protection visa application was refused again in January 2020, and his current visa status remains unclear.
Niazy's criminal history includes being an early member of the Afghani Murderers, also known as the Afghani Mafia Family, which formed after the dismantling of the Brothers 4 Life gang. He has previously faced charges for public place shootings and serious weapons offenses, though some charges were later dropped or he was found unfit to plead due to mental illness. He was also jailed for a domestic violence-related assault in early 2023, a sentence later reduced to a community corrections order on appeal.
Niazy gained notoriety for posting images on social media while on bail for firearms charges, showing himself with large sums of money and snorting white powder, including messages directed at law enforcement.
Salesforce Tower, completed in late 2022, is the tallest commercial building in Sydney's central business district, standing 263 meters high with 55 stories.