Rocco Dipopolo insisted that he no longer "rolls with the club" despite the fact that his brother Damiano is a full-patch member of the Kelowna chapte

Rocco Dipopolo insisted that he no longer "rolls with the club" despite the fact that his brother Damiano is a full-patch member of the Kelowna chapter, and a former East End member. "Thirteen years ago, I was rolling with the Hells Angels," Dipopolo said Friday. "Now I am a businessman . . . what were you doing 13 years ago?"
Insp. Andy Richards, a biker expert with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said Dipopolo at one time was on his way to earning his patch with the East End chapter. "I can confirm that he was a prospect of the club at one point," Richards said. Dipopolo, who owns property in Vancouver and Kelowna, registered Maximum Core Cardio Studio Ltd. last May 23, according to B.C. government records. Three days later, the company applied to Vancouver City Hall for approval to open a gym, a few blocks from Dipopolo's house. The application says the multi-level gym would offer "personalized weight training, boxing, Pilates, yoga, nutrition and much more." "I hope that I can be given the opportunity to give people inner balance, control and strength through this facility as well as provide new standards for going green in Vancouver," Dipopolo said in his application letter.
Dipopolo that he would not let Hells Angels or any gang wear logos or patches in his gym if he gets permission to open it. "I run the show. There aren't going to be any gangs coming here and if they come, they won't be wearing their colours," he said.
Asked about his relationship with his full-patch twin, Dipopolo said: "My brother is not me . . . he lives in his house. I live in mine." A recent B.C. Supreme Court ruling in the divorce between Damiono Dipopolo and Janette Wu shows some financial links between the twins. The February 2008 ruling says Rocco and Damiano were business partners in a cafe in the 1990s and that Damiano gave Rocco $30,000 from some lottery winnings "on a date which was not clear in the evidence." But Friday, Rocco Dipopolo's lawyer, Kevin Drolet, sent a letter to The Sun, threatening a lawsuit and stating: "We wish to be clear that neither Mr. Dipopolo nor his businesses are affiliated with the Hells Angels. Mere insinuation of the existence of such a link could cause serious harm to Mr. Dipopolo, his businesses and his reputation. Should you persist, legal action will surely follow."
Vancouver City Councillor Raymond Louie said it makes no difference with whom a business applicant may be connected. "The city of course does not discriminate based on association. Our job at the city is to ensure that property land use is conducted within our boundaries. So we will ensure that whatever applicant comes forward - in this particular case a gym - conforms to existing zoning bylaws and the impacts of the use aren't disruptive to the neighbourhood."