A helicopter pilot has been charged over an armed robbery of Melbourne's Bourke Street Myer store in 1993 which saw thieves make off with more than half a million dollars.
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Detectives from Operation Tideland charged 54-year-old Preston man Wladimir Wladimirovich Babaeff, who also uses the name James Babaeff, over the robbery at the department store in August 1993.
Three men armed with guns stormed the store after one of the trio posed as a security guard to lure one of the store's real guards to the staff entrance in Lonsdale Street.
The guard was overpowered and handcuffed to a banister before the gang raided the strongroom and stole more than 200 cash bags.
The men got away with just over $518,000.
Mr Babaeff was arrested on Wednesday and charged with 13 offences including armed robbery, aggravated burglary, threats to kill, assault and firearm offences.
He has also been charged with possessing a drug of dependence, namely morphine.
Mr Babaeff, who is on bail, faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday for a filing hearing before Magistrate Peter Dunn.
His lawyer made an unsuccessful submission to prevent media request to access charge sheets, saying the charges were historical and he was the father to two children, aged 11 and 14.
His bail, which included reporting to the Rowville police station twice a week, was extended.
His next court date will be on February 19.
How 'The Age' reported the robbery in 1993.
Mr Babaeff led the media pack on a foot chase outside the court after the hearing, changing his clothing in an apparent attempt to avoid being photographed.
Police searched two properties connected to Mr Babaeff — one in Preston and the other in Rowville.
Operation Tideland was established a year ago to investigate major and sophisticated armed robberies during the 1980s and 1990s, which included the infamous heist of an Armaguard cash truck in Richmond in 1994.
During that investigation they came across evidence relevant to the separate Myer robbery.
Known as the Richmond road-gang robbery, four men dressed up as road workers and held-up the van, stealing $4 million.
Tideland investigators also established a link between the gang responsible and three murders — of young mother Maryanna Lanciana in Werribbee in 1994, the 1999 murder Dimitrios Belias on St Kilda Road in 1999 and George Germanos at Armadale in 2002.
A $1 million dollar reward for information exists for each.
