Underworld figure Mick Gatto released without charge following arrest

Mick Gatto at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne in 2023. (AAP: Morgan Hancock)

Underworld figure Mick Gatto has been released without charge after being arrested by Victorian police investigating "alleged financial offences" earlier today.

Victoria Police said in a statement that detectives from Taskforce Hawk executed a warrant at a property in Mount Martha, on the Mornington Peninsula, this morning.

Police said a 70-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman were arrested and interviewed by police.

A police spokesperson said detectives seized "a number of items including electronic devices, and two controlled weapons including a baton and knife".

Victoria Police's Taskforce Hawk is an operation dedicated to investigating criminal behaviour in the construction sector.

Mr Gatto describes himself as a construction industry "mediator and arbitrator" who helps solve disputes between builders and workers.

But in a report prepared for a Queensland inquiry into the CFMEU published in February, lawyer Geoffrey Watson SC alleged Mr Gatto had held a "malignant influence" on the CFMEU for decades.

Mr Watson's report alleged Mr Gatto received millions of dollars in retainers from builders, to prevent shutdowns on their work sites.

The report described the payments as a "kind of extortion" paid for by the taxpayer.

In response to Mr Watson's allegations, Mr Gatto told Melbourne radio station 3AW he was "not above the law" and had no ties to criminal gangs.