Lawyer X scandal: jailed Victorian gangsters could go free

Criminals could go free after a royal commission investigates the potentially corrupt use of a ­female barrister as a supergrass.

Tony Mokbel, left, and Pasquale ‘Pat’ Barbaro.

Some of Australia’s most notorious criminals and gangland figures could go free after a royal commission investigates Victoria Police’s “reprehensible’’ and potentially corrupt use of a ­female barrister as a supergrass, amid fears that dozens of cases have been compromised.

Premier Daniel ­Andrews yesterday announced a $7.5 million inquiry after the High Court excoriated police use of so-called Lawyer X as a prosecution witness.

The use of Lawyer X, who informed on her clients while acting for them and claims the force ­arrested and charged 386 people because of her information, has imperilled dozens of cases including convictions against drug lord Tony Mokbel, who was Australia’s amphetamines king until he was arrested in Greece in 2007.

The barrister used by police was instrumental in prosecutions of the Mokbel cartel and was seminal to Purana Taskforce investigations into Melbourne’s broader gangland war between 2005 and 2009, when she was a registered police informant.

The High Court said yesterday that police were guilty of ­“reprehensible conduct’’ and “sanctioning atrocious breaches’’ of the force’s ethics by using Lawyer X, also known as 3838 and EF, to act as an informant against the best interests of her clients.

Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd QC has written to 20 criminals, advising them their convictions could be ­affected by the ethical and legal breaches — among the worst in Australian legal history.

Separate to the Judd letter, a further two cases affected by commonwealth law also have been pinpointed for review but the royal commission could uncover dozens of other transgressions.

Compensation to the convicted criminals is a distinct possibility.

Mr Andrews yesterday conceded that criminals could walk free as a result of the blunders, which occurred overwhelmingly during the tenure of former police commissioner Christine Nixon. They were also undertaken while former chief commissioner Simon Overland held senior roles, including as head of crime and as a deputy commissioner. Neither he nor Ms Nixon responded to ­requests for comment from The Australian.

 

The High Court has ruled that the use of Lawyer X by police amounted to a legal debacle. “EF’s actions in purporting to act as counsel for the convicted persons while covertly informing against them were fundamental and ­appalling breaches of EF’s obligations as counsel to her clients and of EF’s duties to the court,’’ it said.

“Likewise, Victoria Police were guilty of reprehensible conduct in knowingly encouraging EF to do as she did and were involved in sanctioning atrocious breaches of the sworn duty of every police officer to discharge all duties imposed on them faithfully and according to law without favour or affection, malice or ill-will.

“As a result, the prosecution of each convicted person was corrupted in a manner which debased fundamental premises of the criminal justice system.’’

The High Court exposed the extent to which the lives of Lawyer X and her children remain at risk because she is not in witness protection. Court documents reveal she was aware of the risks of her informing, writing to police in 2015: “If this gets out, say nice things at my eulogy, because I will be gone — and enjoy the royal commission.”

Melbourne’s gangland war between 1998 and 2010 led to 36 deaths and dozens of prosecutions. It was fought primarily over drugs as warring groups, including the so-called Carlton Crew and the Williams and Mokbel families, engaged in a bloody turf war that gathered worldwide attention, with victims both innocent and guilty being gunned down across Melbourne.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton yesterday stood by police involved in the scandal, urging people to understand the context in which detectives were operating. He defended the force’s decision to embark on a legal fight to prevent the publication of the scandal.

“Melbourne was in the grip of what now is known as the gangland wars ... The risk to the community at this time was significant … a genuine sense of urgency was enveloping the criminal justice system, including police,’’ he said.

He defended the roles of those involved in the decision to use the legal supergrass.

Victoria Police has spent two years and millions of dollars attempting to stop Mokbel and the members of his cartel from being told about the unethical, secret double life of the lawyer, the extent of which was exposed by an Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission investigation conducted by retired judge Murray Kellam QC.

The saga can now be detailed after the High Court rejected a special leave-to-appeal application by Victoria Police and lifted the blanket suppression orders on the case. The name of the lawyer remains protected by court order.

Court documents reveal the lawyer said: “My motivation in assisting police was not for self-gain but was rather borne from the frustration of being aware of prolific large commercial drug trafficking, importations of massive quantities of drugs, murders, bashings, perverting the course of justice, huge money-laundering and other serious offences all being committed without any serious inroads being made by police.

“There were a total of 386 people arrested and charged that I am specifically aware of based upon information I provided to Victoria Police but there are probably more because, as you would know, I did not always know the value or use of some of the intelligence I was providing.’’

She said $60 million in proceeds of crime had been secured by her evidence.

The royal commission will be due to report on the number of people whose convictions have been affected by the use of the informant by no later than July 1 next year, with the balance of the commission’s work due by December 1.

Mr Andrews said a royal commissioner was yet to be appointed, and the role could be performed by up to two people, with terms of reference to be determined in consultation with the appointee or appointees.

The Premier said he had confidence in Mr Ashton, who was at the Office of Police Integrity at the time the informant was used.

Melbourne criminal lawyer Peter Faris QC said of yesterday’s revelations: “The police were wrong and the lawyers were wrong. And they formed to possibly conspire together to pervert the course of justice. It’s not on.’’

Former assistant commissioner Noel Ashby told ABC News: “It is almost beyond belief, from an investigative perspective, that they would even consider going down that road, let alone going down it and actually doing it.”