By Chris Vedelago and Erin Pearson
A well-known gangland lawyer has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice as part of evidence allegedly uncovered during an international law enforcement sting that tricked underworld figures into using an encrypted phone system run by police.
Solicitor Sarah Tricarico was arrested by Victoria Police’s Criminal Proceeds Squad and charged on Thursday – the same day she was appearing in court for her most famous client, convicted drug trafficker Tony Mokbel.
Sarah Tricarico was charged by Victoria Police on Thursday.Credit: sarahtricaricolawyers.com.au
“A 38-year-old Maribyrnong woman and a 33-year-old Coburg man were arrested [on Thursday] and subsequently charged with attempt to pervert the course of justice,” a police statement said.
“The charges are linked to information uncovered by police during Operation Ironside in 2021.”
The identity of the second person is still unknown. Both were bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
Tricarico did not respond to requests for comment.
In 2018, the US Federal of Bureau of Investigation and the Australian Federal Police created a bespoke encrypted phone system known as An0m that they covertly distributed among some of the biggest criminals operating in Australia and ex-patriate gang bosses overseas.
Believing the system was secure, hundreds of alleged criminals used the system to run huge drug trafficking networks and plan violent attacks. In June 2021, the FBI and AFP shut down the system and arrested more than 300 alleged criminals across the world in what became known as Operation Ironside.
Police have not confirmed the nature of Tricarico’s alleged offending and how it is linked to Operation Ironside.
The charges against Tricarico, while not linked to Mokbel, could also potentially cause a disruption to his ongoing appeal against his convictions.
Tricarico has represented Mokbel since at least 2017 and has been an integral part of mounting the case to have his convictions overturned by the Victorian Court of Appeal, which is due to hear the matter by the end of this year.
Operation Ironside involved the use of an encrypted app that was actually run by police.Credit: Alamy
Tricarico, who established her firm, Sarah Tricarico Lawyers, in 2016, has represented a host of serious underworld figures including convicted murderer George Marrogi and members of the Haddara, Barbaro and Tiba crime families.
On her company website, Tricarico describes herself as “your trusted lawyer in criminal law”.
“As a passionate and committed criminal defence lawyer, I pride myself on my youthful energy and determination to fight for my clients’ rights,” she writes.
Tricarico is one of a string of legal industry professionals recently charged with alleged offences or to lose their practising licence for serious misconduct.
This group includes Tricarico’s former law partner, Nick Marcevski, whose practising certificate was cancelled in 2023 after an investigation found he had “either intentionally, recklessly, or with a wilful blindness” breached rules around the use of a trust fund.
In July, lawyers Zoe Davis, 34, and Rachelle Badour-Taha, 25, were charged with perverting the course of justice and attempting to pervert the course of justice over allegations they altered a medical certificate for a client facing court on traffic charges.
Lawyers Zoe Davis (left) and Rachelle Badour-Taha in July 2024.Credit: Chris Hopkins
In September, barrister and former Office of Public Prosecutions solicitor Anthony Grant was charged over a series of alleged drug offences, including trafficking five times the commercial quantity of GHB.
The drug and others – including MDMA, ritalin, magic mushrooms, cocaine, ecstasy and hundreds of prescription pills – were found in his apartment.
He was also later charged with trafficking drugs at Crown casino in the days before his arrest.
Solicitor Glenn Thexton is due to face court next month on allegations he sexually assaulted a woman outside a kebab shop following an evening at a CBD strip club.
He denies the allegations against him.
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