Tony Mokbel, a prominent figure in Australia’s criminal underworld, was born Antonios Sajih Mokbel in 1965 in Kuwait, into a Lebanese family. At the age of eight, his family relocated to Australia, where he experienced a challenging upbringing in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. Initially, Mokbel worked in his brother’s pizza shop, but within a few years, he transitioned into managing a lucrative drug empire, amassing significant wealth.
In the early 1980s, Mokbel began encountering legal issues, accruing convictions for various offenses, including assault and firearm possession. In 1992, he was sentenced to 12 months in prison for attempting to bribe a judge, and by 1998, he faced conviction for manufacturing amphetamines.
Mokbel’s criminal activities escalated, and in March 2006, he disappeared while on bail for a cocaine importation trial. Soon after, he fled to Greece via a yacht, which he had hidden for months. In February 2007, he was charged with involvement in the murder of gangland figure Lewis Moran and was arrested in Athens later that June. Although he faced multiple murder allegations, he was acquitted of the charges against him.
In 2011, Mokbel pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, resulting in a substantial prison sentence of 30 years, with a minimum of 22 years before parole. Throughout the subsequent years, Mokbel’s life continued to be marred by violence and legal disputes, including a stabbing incident in prison in 2019 that left him with significant health issues.
By 2020, the appeal court acknowledged a miscarriage of justice connected to Mokbel’s conviction due to his former lawyer being unmasked as a police informant. His drug trafficking sentence was subsequently reassessed, reducing his term to 26 years, with a non-parole period of 20 years.
Mokbel’s legal battles continued into 2024, as recent rulings indicated that his original charges may have stemmed from corruption involving police and his attorney. As of April 2025, Mokbel applied for bail on the grounds of health concerns and the protraction of his appeals process. A decision on whether he would regain his freedom, after nearly two decades since his arrest, was anticipated from the judiciary. Mokbel’s life exemplifies the complex interplay of crime, justice, and personal downfall within Australia’s law enforcement narrative.