I just got offered $100,000 to shut up.

A straight-up payoff to drop my investigation.

I’ve dealt with threats and smears for years, but this was the first time someone tried to buy my silence with cash. The size of the offer tells you everything about how worried they are about my simple scrutiny.

Months ago, I started asking questions about what looked like a dodgy situation involving Stephen Baghdadi and deals that appeared to leave ordinary mum-and-dad investors worse off.

Before I’d even published anything, David Ross, a journalist at The Australian, ran a hit piece about me. He didn’t engage with the substance of my questions. Instead, he went personal, dredging up old material in what felt like a coordinated attempt to shut down my investigation.

🚨 I used a mainstream journalist’s OWN tactic on him…

He LOST IT.

Sorry not sorry, David Ross.

Full video: https://t.co/dt3Nvrxtp9 pic.twitter.com/CbQDArajIf

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) March 5, 2026

When I confronted David Ross on camera about his obsession with the story and his sourcing and methods, he didn’t calmly defend his work. He turned physical. That moment went viral because it exposed the entitled attitude of legacy media operators like David Ross, who think they’re untouchable.

Then I learned through my sources that Stephen Baghdadi was scheduled to appear in person at the Federal Court in Melbourne. So I went to the court with my team to put questions directly to him. We confirmed his attendance via the court webcast and waited at the only public entrance and exit, the usual spots where media wait to question people entering and leaving the court.

Hours passed and the court adjourned. Still nothing.

Stephen Baghdadi had vanished.

Go Ad Free

The next morning, I got a call that filled in the missing piece. The message was blunt: someone knew I was waiting outside. They told me a specialised security team, including former SAS operators, had allegedly escorted Stephen Baghdadi out through an emergency exit to evade my questions.

And then came the offer: $100,000 to drop my interest in the story.

This wasn't a prank call, or a random coincidence, there was no public knowledge I had been waiting at the court that day with my team. 

I immediately contacted Rebel News boss Ezra Levant and my lawyer. The entire proposition alarmed me and I knew I had to seek professional and legal advice. I didn’t want the money, but I was determined to handle it properly, ethically, and within the law, to expose the lengths people were going to in order to avoid accountability and shut down my investigation.

I rang the number I’d been given and recorded the call. The security operative was courteous and said they’d send details by email and arrange a sit-down with Stephen Baghdadi and a legal representative.

The email i received proposed a private meeting “in chambers,” off the record. I rejected it.

Instead, I fired off an email addressing Stephen Baghdadi with some direct questions, including: why he hired elite private security to avoid public scrutiny, whether it was appropriate for him to use an emergency exit at the courthouse, if he knew about the alleged $100,000 offer to buy my silence, and what his explanation was for the investor dealings that triggered this entire investigation.

He never replied.

Right on cue, like clockwork, David Ross from The Australian resurfaced with another article packed with easily disproven nonsense, while completely avoiding the core allegations of the dodgy dealings.

Baghdadi is due to enter the witness box on 1 June. Will the mainstream media finally do its job and ask about the questionable dealings I’ve been working to expose and, worse, the $100,000 offer made allegedly by someone in his orbit? Or will they keep running smear pieces against people like me actually investigating the story. You have to start to wonder if management at the Australian is even aware of David Ross shonky journalism. 

What I will say, though, is that my silence cannot be bought. The truth isn’t for sale.

If you’re as fed up as I am with unethical journalism and sketchy deals that disadvantage everyday Australians, where powerful people get protection while ordinary Australians are told to shut up, then share this and stay tuned.