Former bikie boss who survived five assassination attempts and converted to Islam is now the ambassador for a Sharia-compliant cryptocurrency

A former bikie leader who converted to Islam has fronted a video endorsing a Sharia-compliant cryptocurrency.

Vince Focarelli, who survived five attempts on his life as the Adelaide-based leader of the Comancheros, is the new frontman for Bayan Token, a Singapore-based Islamic finance group.

The 42-year-old reformed bikie is introduced in a three-minute YouTube clip as a ‘devout Muslim and social worker’ who was previously a ‘gang leader’.

‘My name is Vince Focarelli and I believe in God,’ he said, after delivering a brief introduction in Bahasa Indonesian.

‘I believe that when you do good, goodness will come back to you.’

The Italian-born former underworld figure describes the cryptocurrency as something that delivers ‘goodness at every turn’ and has ‘real world benefits and a ‘higher purpose’.

‘It is backed by ongoing projects that are strong in Islamic principles,’ he said in the video.

The man with a colourful past said the world’s growing Islamic population meant there would be more demand for halal products, that were permissible in Islam.

Last year, he fled South Australia to live in Malaysia to escape a criminal-related deportation.

The Kuala Lumpur-based man, who describes himself as a devoted Muslim, has a wife and a stepdaughter in Adelaide.

The former Comancheros leader risked having his Australian visa cancelled under the Migration Act, which gives Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton the power to deport a non-citizen that is regarded as a threat to community safety.

Fearing it would be revoked and he would be sent to a detention centre, he left the country before an adjudication process could begin.

Focarelli, who became a Islam devout in 2012, survived five assassination attempts at the hands of gangland rivals — the last attempt killing his stepson.

Now, he encourages others to celebrate the beauty of life, and hopes to reopen his old Adelaide restaurant, La’Fig ­Cucina, in Kuala Lumpur.

The daunting task won’t be the same without his wife though, given she was ‘the backbone’ behind their Carrington Street establishment.

Once a man who’s life literally involved dodging bullets, Focarelli has now devoted himself to caring for his mother, who has stage-four cancer.

Read original article at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5980859/Ex-Comancheros-bikie-boss-Islam-convert-Vince-Focarelli-backs-Sharia-complaint-cryptocurrency.html