Tony Mokbel, a notorious drug kingpin, is set to have his appeal hearing over four days commencing September 2. After being granted bail in April, Mokbel was seen enjoying a coffee and sharing jokes with his legal team at the Victorian Court of Appeal prior to the proceedings. During a brief directions hearing led by Judicial Registrar Deirdre McCann, it was confirmed that Mokbel’s appeal will focus on overturning his drug trafficking and importation convictions, citing inadequate legal representation from Nicola Gobbo, a former barrister now known to be an informer for Victoria Police.
Gobbo acted as Mokbel’s lawyer for four years while also working as an informer from 2005 to 2009. Her dual role was a revelation he only learned of in 2018 when the High Court lifted gag orders on the case. Mokbel pleaded guilty to trafficking MDMA and methamphetamine in 2011 after a deal with prosecutors but has since challenged his conviction, particularly following a November ruling by NSW Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Fullerton. Justice Fullerton found that police had interfered with the course of justice in a scheme alongside Gobbo designed to imprison Mokbel.
Mokbel, who has spent 18 years of his 26-year sentence, recently secured bail based on the strength of his appeal, a decision influenced by two appeal judges and a Supreme Court judge. Since his release, he has adhered to 30 bail conditions, including daily police check-ins, an 8pm to 6am curfew, and GPS monitoring, with his sister providing a $1 million surety.
The court has mandated that all documentation relevant to the appeal be submitted by July 4, and while the composition of the appeal bench is yet to be confirmed, Mokbel’s legal saga continues to unfold. Upon leaving court, Mokbel refrained from addressing journalists, accompanied by his barrister, Julie Condon KC.