Tony Mokbel is set to enjoy his first day of freedom after 18 years in prison, having been recently granted bail in advance of his appeal regarding Lawyer X. The notorious underworld figure was picked up in a Mercedes-Benz from the Court of Appeal and transported to his new residence in Viewbank, a leafy suburb in Melbourne’s northeast. Mokbel, now 59, has been incarcerated since his arrest in Greece back in 2007.
His sister, Gawy Saad, and her husband provided a $500,000 surety to secure Mokbel’s bail; however, the appeal court judges mandated that this amount be increased to $1 million. Despite his newfound freedom, Mokbel will be subjected to stringent bail conditions, totalling 30 in number. In court, when asked if he would comply with these terms, he affirmed, “I swear, yes Your Honour.”
As part of his restrictions, Mokbel is required to report to the police daily and is barred from leaving his home between 8pm and 6am. He must also wear a GPS monitoring device for 12 months, which he has to finance himself. Additionally, within 12 hours of his bail approval, Mokbel must secure a non-smartphone that has to be approved by police, along with providing the phone number, PIN, or password to them.
In line with his bail conditions, Mokbel is prohibited from using encrypted communication tools or software, such as Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Snapchat, and he cannot communicate with anyone outside of Australia. He is not allowed to leave metropolitan Melbourne or travel within two kilometres of any port or airport. These measures have been put in place following Mokbel’s bail evasion in 2006, when he fled to Greece while awaiting trial for cocaine trafficking.
Initially sentenced to 12 years in his absence, Mokbel was later acquitted on appeal. However, he still faces a final appeal regarding his drug trafficking convictions, expected to be heard later this year. The judges indicated that he has a robust case to contest these convictions, particularly due to revelations of his former lawyer, Nicola Gobbo, acting as a police informer.
Tony Mokbel’s release marks a significant development in a lengthy legal saga, reflecting his contentious relationship with the law and the implications of his case for the Australian judicial system.