Underworld figure Mick Gatto has reportedly been arrested at his Victorian property as part of a police investigation into alleged financial crimes.

Detectives raided his Mount Martha property, about 50 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, on Wednesday morning, arresting two people in their 70s.

Although Victorian Police did not initially name those arrested, multiple media outlets reported it was Gatto and his wife Cheryl.

“Detectives from Taskforce Hawk executed a warrant at a Mount Martha property this morning as part of a current investigation into alleged financial offences,” a police spokesperson said.

“Further information will be released later today.”

Radio presenter Jacqui Felgate, of Melbourne’s 3AW, reported there were around six police cars at the property on Wednesday: “They have been taking boxes in and out of the property all day.”

Taskforce Hawk was established in mid-2024 to tackle criminal behaviour in the construction sector.

A report by lawyer Geoffrey Watson SC into the Victorian branch of the CFMEU under former boss John Setka mentioned Gatto numerous times.

Titled Rotting from the Top and released in February by Queensland’s Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU, it claimed Gatto had been a “malignant influence” on the construction union for decades.

“Gatto claims he is a ‘mediator and arbitrator’, but others — including a federal judge — say he is ‘a stand-over man and a gangster …’,” alleged the report.

Gatto denied the accusations, saying he had no links to criminal gangs.

“I’m the biggest scapegoat in town … I’ve got a reputation because they’ve got me branded as an underworld figure,” he said in a Channel 10 interview.

–with AAP