George Marrogi’s girlfriend Antonietta Mannella impersonated by sister, court hears

Crime kingpin George Marrogi’s girlfriend has had property fraud charges dropped after a court heard she was impersonated by her sister.

George Marrogi (centre) with his brother Jesse. Picture: Supplied

Crime kingpin George Marrogi’s girlfriend has had property fraud charges dropped after a court heard she was impersonated by her sister.

Detectives charged Antonietta Mannella with 16 offences relating to fraudulently obtaining home loans by falsely representing her financial position.

It was alleged Mannella, 29, was making less than $50,000 a year at the time but managed to secure multimillion dollars worth of bank loans.

She fronted the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where multiple charges were thrown out after a mortgage broker gave evidence that he had never dealt with Mannella over some of the home loan applications.

The broker told the court he had in fact only spoken to a Carmel Mannella, who is Antonietta’s sister.

The court heard of two instances where Carmel, who is a mortgage broker, pretended to be Antonietta while on the phone to speed up the application process.

Antonietta Mannella’s lawyer Sam Tovey told the court there is no evidence his client knew about the false representations on the applications.

“My client has been impersonated,” he said.

“There is simply no evidence whatsoever of her being involved.”

Antonietta Mannella. Picture: Instagram

George Marrogi.

Prosecutor Charlotte Duckett said Mannella was granted the home loans so “must have known” about the misleading information provided on the paper work.

“The funds went into her bank account, in her name … she was financially literate,” Ms Duckett said.

“Her name is on all the documents … she must have known.”

Ms Duckett said Mannella’s low income and job in finance meant she “couldn’t have possibly have thought a bank would approve a loan”.

But magistrate Olivia Trumble questioned: “Where’s the evidence she (Antoinetta) knew?”

Ms Trumble discharged Mannella of all charges bar three.

The remaining charges include dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime and use a false document.

Charge sheets allege those offences relate to her obtaining loans for two homes in Taylors Hill and Moonee Ponds worth $2,273,000.

The alleged offending spanned July 2020 to April 2021.

The loans were first picked up by Echo Taskforce detectives during investigations into the notorious Marrogi family.

Ms Trumble will rule on whether there is sufficient evidence to order Mannella to stand trial on the remaining three charges at a later date.