Gangland lawyer Sarah Tricarico has launched a desperate bid to keep practising before drug kingpin Tony Mokbel goes for bail in less than a week.
Melbourne’s legal big guns were out in force as solicitor Tricarico made a Supreme Court attempt on Monday to regain control of her eponymous practice.
Underworld lawyer Sarah Tricarico this month.Credit: Jason South
Tricarico is the gangland lawyer who had to hand over control of her law firm after she was charged on March 13 with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
She had been acting for Mokbel and was charged after an international law enforcement sting involving encrypted phones.
Represented by Emrys Nekvapil, SC, Tricarico sought to work as an “employee solicitor” under legal veteran and Mokbel solicitor Steve Andrianakis’ supervision until the criminal matter is resolved.
This proposal would limit her to working on matters for existing clients only. Mokbel has filed an affidavit in support, and a decision on Tricarico’s bid is expected on Tuesday.
The Legal Services Board, represented by Suresh Senathirajah, KC, suspended Tricarico’s certificate to practise law in Victoria earlier this month.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents show Andrianakis became a director of Tricarico’s firm on March 15, before resigning on March 19.
On March 15, the Legal Services Board appointed Louise Gehrig, a partner at Piper Alderman, to handle the mess, or as the board put it, “as manager of the incorporated legal practice of Sarah Tricarico Lawyers Pty Ltd”.
Time is of the essence. Mokbel’s bail application is listed to go before the courts on April 1. We kid you not. Tricario’s bail conditions were recently varied so she could go on holidays with her mother and son, the details of which were revealed only to magistrate Michelle Hodgson.
As The Age reported, supporters of Tricarico, including a practising barrister, hurled abuse at the media and one woman pushed and threatened a photographer during her previous court appearance. Charming.
Land sale, land sale
Believe it not, Presbyterian Ladies’ College’s “humble” $85 million pool and sports complex isn’t the biggest construction project going on in Burwood right now.
PLC, Deakin University and Mount Scopus Memorial College are all a stone’s throw from construction work on a new Burwood station due to open in 2035 as part of the first stage of the wildly expensive Suburban Rail Loop.
Construction work on PLC’s $85 million-plus pool and sports centre last year.Credit: Eddie Jim
Great news for PLC and Deakin – the loop will make it much easier for students to travel. But Mount Scopus will probably have left the eastern suburb by then. The high-fee school has long hoped to leave its flagship Burwood campus to be closer to Melbourne’s Jewish heartland in Caulfield.
One long-mooted plan was the school taking over some or all of the land occupied by Caulfield Hospital. That didn’t come to pass. Mount Scopus late last year announced a $195 million deal with Melbourne Racing Club to combine its three campuses on 7.5 hectares at Caulfield Racecourse. The first facilities will open there in 2030.
So, what happens now to Mount Scopus’ 10.5-hectare Burwood campus and half-a-dozen nearby properties?
David Gold, president of the Mount Scopus College Foundation, says no decision has been made. The state government is an obvious buyer, perhaps for a government school or social housing. CBD understands the government is aware of and interested in the land, due to its proximity to the planned Burwood station, but has no concrete plans to buy it.
Mount Scopus Memorial College in Burwood.Credit: Scott McNaughton
Another option is Mount Scopus developing the Burwood land itself and then selling it.
Deakin University said it was “often involved in all manner of discussions” with its neighbour, but it “currently had no plans” to purchase the site. Watch this space.
Tucker x Clive
CBD brought word last week that Clive Palmer’s $110 million senator, Ralph Babet, would be skipping Tuesday night’s federal budget to play emcee at an event in Newcastle with a live-stream of former Fox News fire-breather Tucker Carlson.
Palmer, meanwhile, will be in Canberra watching from the public gallery, because he loves budget night, apparently. CBD will also have its boots on the ground during the budget to keep you updated on the Canberra bubble’s biggest week.
It’s looking as if Tucker Carlson will face only a small crowd when he beams into a Melbourne event at the weekend.Credit: AP
Carlson will be beaming into an event in Melbourne next weekend, where we hear it’s been a bit of a challenge getting bums on seats. On Monday afternoon, just 265 tickets had been sold for the $45-a-head event, to be held at the Plenary at Jeff’s Shed, a soulless exhibition centre with capacity for 5500 guests.
To help build momentum, Palmer has been running more annoying newspaper ads for the Saturday event, claiming that Carlson was only appearing from the States because of a delay in securing an Australian visa.
Now, we’d never heard a whisper of Tucker showing up on these shores in person, especially so soon after his 2024 tour, when he flew in on Palmer’s private jet. And government sources told CBD that rather than struggling with a visa delay, Tucker had never actually applied for one in the first place.
We put all this to Palmer’s people, who didn’t respond.
With Chris Vedelago
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