Gangland kingpin Tony Mokbel makes bid for freedom after arriving at court in armoured truck

One of Australia’s most notorious gangland figures is hoping a new girlfriend and half a million dollars will convince the courts to set him free.

Crime kingpin Antonios ‘Tony’ Mokbel is banking on the courts finding assurance in a long-term girlfriend, and his sister’s $500,000 surety, as the underworld figure makes a push for freedom.

Mokbel, 59, is fighting to be released from jail after 18 years and will learn his fate at the end of the week following a bail hearing on Tuesday.

A key player in Melbourne’s gangland wars of the 1990s and 2000s, Mokbel is serving a 26-year sentence for drug trafficking which could end via parole in mid-2031. But after his lawyer Nicola Gobbo was revealed to have been a police informant at the time she represented him, Mokbel is appealing the suite of criminal convictions.

A bail application tied to this appeal case was heard in the Court of Appeal in Melbourne on Tuesday.

A military-grade armoured vehicle escorted Mokbel to court, as armed police surrounded the courthouse.

Tony Mokbel was taken from maximum security Barwon Prison to the Melbourne Supreme Court under heavy guard in November, 2024. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

Lawyers for the gangland figure told the court their arguments for bail were based on Mokbel’s poor physical health, his conditions in custody, willingness to wear a GPS monitoring ankle bracelet, and a supportive family with a long term de facto partner.

His lawyer did not elaborate on the long-term girlfriend, the health issues or the circumstances in custody.

Mokbel is seeking bail to the northeast Melbourne suburb of Viewbank, with his sister Gawy Saad, the court was told.

Giving evidence on Tuesday, Ms Saad said she was redrawing on her mortgage as a $500,000 surety for Mokbel’s bail application.

Mokbel arrived at court in a ‘BearCat’ armoured vehicle on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Ian Currie

When Mokbel fled the country in 2006, he was bailed to another sister’s house, who had put up a $1m surety.

Office of Public Prosecutions lawyer David Glynn, asked Ms Saad if she was aware her brother had fled before, costing their sister a loss of surety.

“I assure you, it won’t happen,” Ms Saad said.

“He’s been punished for it, and he’s done his time. I’m sure he won’t do it again … flee or go against the court cases or the law,” she said.

Gawy Saad, left, has offered a financial surety for her brother’s bail. Picture: NewsWire / Ian Currie

When asked by a judge, she agreed to alert police should Mokbel break bail conditions. The court was told Ms Saad had no criminal history. The other sister, Renate Mokbel, was sent to prison when she could not pay the $1m surety.

If Mokbel is granted bail, he has agreed to wear a monitoring bracelet, which would be tracked from New Zealand.

He would live with his sister and her husband at their Viewbank home, be subject to an 11pm-6am curfew and report to the Heidelberg police station every day. Mokbel would also be forbidden from leaving Victoria or attending international points of departure.

Julie Condon, KC, argued her client Tony Mokbel had a reasonable chance of winning an appeal against the criminal convictions. Picture: NewsWire / Ian Currie

Opposing bail, the Crown Prosecutor, Mr Glynn, said because Mokbel had more than a year until parole - six years in fact - he did not meet the exceptional circumstances required for bail pending appeal.

“The merits of this appeal are in dispute.”

Ms Gobbo was not Mokbel’s lawyer when she “rolled” (snitched) on two other people, Mr Glynn said.

“The (bail) conditions available now are no better, or no stricter, than when he absconded in 2006.

“His personal circumstances (his health) … are not enough to show exceptional circumstances.”

Arguing for bail, Mokbel’s barrister Julie Condon, KC, said it was “unthinkable” Mokbel would not have fought his drug charges had he known his lawyer was a police informant.

Wearing a black suit and surrounded by four specialist security guards in a glass enclosure, Mokbel was able to briefly hug supporters inside the courtroom on Tuesday.

The court was told Mokbel had a long term partner and a support network in Melbourne.

Justices Karin Emerton, Robert Osborn and Jane Dixon have reserved their decision on Mokbel’s bail until 10am Friday, April 4.

Tony Mokbel was designated as Australia’s most wanted man before his arrest in Greece in 2007. Picture: Greek Police / Handout / AFP

Tony Mokbel was arrested in a seaside Athens suburb. Picture: Greek Police / Handout / AFP

Mokbel was an infamous figure in Melbourne’s gangland wars.

While on bail in 2006, he fled to Greece by boat during a cocaine trafficking trial.

He was arrested in Athens in 2007, wearing an infamous ill-fitting wig.

Mokbel was extradited in 2012 and then sentenced to 30 years’ jail, with the term later reduced by four years.

In 2019, Mokbel was stabbed by inmates at Victoria’s maximum-security Barwon Prison.

The Sunday Herald Sun reported Mokbel had disrupted an extortion racket being run by Pacific Islander inmates and become a “powerful enforcer” in prison.

His current sentence expires in 2037, but he is eligible for parole in June 2031.

Tony Mokbel is transported under military-grade guard whenever he is taken to court. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

But after his lawyer Nicola Gobbo was unmasked as a police informant, Mokbel launched an appeal against the hefty sentence, based on what he and his lawyers argue was legal impropriety on the part of Ms Gobbo and the Victoria Police.

A judge who previously heard a lengthy preliminary hearing into the appeal, found Ms Gobbo breached her duties as a lawyer, forming a “joint criminal enterprise” with Victoria Police.

The appeal date has not been set, but in court on Tuesday Mokbel’s lawyer said she expects the hearing to be held before the end of 2025.