February 24, 2026 — 6:44pm
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The two North Ryde households couldn’t have been more different.
In one, elderly widower Chris Baghsarian lived a quiet life; the 85-year-old had never fallen foul of the law. Meanwhile, only a few doors down, the colourful Stepanyan family was only too well known to the police.
Chris Baghsarian was mistakenly kidnapped from his North Ryde home on February 13.NSW Police
For years, the Stepanyan home had been a hive of law enforcement activity, resulting in criminal convictions for most of the residents.
Detectives believe a group of bungling kidnappers who mistakenly abducted Baghsarian on February 13 were, in fact, targeting the Stepanyan patriarch, 67-year-old Karo.
On Tuesday, police confirmed the worst fears for Baghsarian’s family when they discovered what is believed to be his body dumped by a golf course on Sydney’s north-western fringe.
“How did use (sic) get the wrong house?” convicted armed robber Dimitri Stepanyan supposedly said in text messages purportedly between him and Baghsarian’s kidnappers.
“My old man would of blown your head off,” Stepanyan is alleged to have texted the kidnappers, referring to missing their intended target, his father Karo, who had his taxi driver’s licence cancelled after a long history of complaints from passengers to the taxi company, including allegedly threatening to have a passenger killed.
The purported messages were published on SCN [Sydney Crime Network] Worldstar. The Herald has not been able to independently verify the legitimacy of the messages.
Stepanyan, 37, founded Proper Streetwear, a well-known clothing brand linked to the Alameddine crime family.
The phrase “never cross the family” – an alleged reference to the Alameddine family – appears on several Proper Streetwear clothing items and features on some members’ personal jewellery.
Dimitri Stepanyan, pictured with his sister, Katiusha Stepanyan.Facebook
Dimitri Stepanyan describes himself as a “Sydney-based entrepreneur and the creative force behind Proper Streetwear”. On his website, which has been taken down since his family was revealed as the intended target of the kidnapping, Stepanyan boasted that he was known for his “bold vision and relentless drive” and that he had “built a reputation as a trendsetter in both fashion and business”.
The Herald attempted to contact Dimitri Stepanyan for comment. The family is not accused of any involvement in Baghsarian’s kidnapping.
Dimitri Stepanyan was released from jail in October 2016 after serving seven years of a 10-year sentence for armed robbery, after being found guilty of his role in stealing more than $25,000 from the Forestville RSL Club in 2009.
A court judgement described a rehearsal during which they “cased the premises”, and he and a co-accused signed in using their real names. A guard, in on the robbery, agreed to be shot so he could claim worker’s compensation. It was never established who fired the weapon.
The judgment said Dimitri had a “significant” criminal record and had drug, alcohol and gambling addictions.
In 2017, one year after his release from prison, detectives went to the Stepanyans’ four-bedroom house in North Ryde to serve a firearm prohibition order on Dimitri, the oldest of three adult children living in the house.
Katiusha Stepanyan, a fashion, fitness and beauty model, was convicted in dealing with the proceeds of crime after police seized more than $220,000 in cash from her bedroom.Facebook
Police were astonished to find bundles of cash in his younger sister’s bedroom.
Katiusha “Kat” Stepanyan, a fashion, fitness and beauty model and marketing executive from North Ryde, replied “no comment” when officers asked her about six bundles of cash – totalling more than $220,000.
One bundle of $31,500 was found in the pocket of a jacket hanging in her wardrobe, while $160,000 was seized from a black handbag in the bottom corner of a cupboard.
At the time, Katiusha was earning $80,000 per year as a marketing executive.
“It’s my money, that’s it,” she told police, but volunteered nothing further.
At her subsequent bail hearing, police told the court they believed the seized money was “possibly linked to serious drug offences … The accused resides with persons known to have been convicted of serious indictable offences.”
Katiusha’s twin, Dominic, 35, was in jail at the time for drug offences. During their investigation into him, police had found Dominic’s drug ledger, which included the entry: “Call Kat tell her Alex K will fix her 2k every Monday.”
Katuisua was convicted of dealing with proceeds of crime, ordered to pay a $1000 fine and given a 12-month good behaviour bond.
Dominic is currently back behind bars, having been bail refused over firearm and other charges.
In 2019, the NSW Crime Commission obtained a restraining order preventing him from disposing of possible proceeds of crime. Two years later, in another court matter, it was alleged that Dominic was a “high-level supplier” of MDMA.
Karo Stepanyan was permanently banned from driving taxis in 2009 due to his appalling history as a taxi driver, which included accusations by passengers of rudeness, theft, overcharging and failing to travel a requested route.
Karo first lost his taxi licence in 1994, “due to the inordinate number of passenger complaints which had been submitted against you”.
He’d only had his licence back for three years when, in 2003, he lost it again following 17 complaints from passengers, including one accusing him of theft.
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He’d also threatened to assault another taxi driver while they were waiting in a cab rank.
The tribunal heard that on one occasion in 2008, Karo had picked up a 91-year-old man and his wife from the Mater Hospital in Wollstonecraft. Karo appeared to not know the route. When offered advice by his female passenger, her told her to “shut up”.
“He became more angry and he started to bang the steering wheel and yelling,” the passenger told the tribunal. She took his details and told him she was going to lodge a complaint.
Having arrived at their destination, Stepanyan threatened to have his passengers killed if a complaint was made, the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal heard.
It is not known why the Stepanyan family was the intended target of the kidnappers. Police do not believe the matter is linked to the current conflict between the Alameddine crime family and the self-proclaimed “Coconut Cartel”.
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