Drug Kingpin Tony Mokbel granted bail after 18 years in custody

Notorious Victorian crime boss Tony Mokbel has been granted bail for the first time in 18 years after spending nearly two decades behind bars.

The Victorian Court of Appeal ruled that the 59-year-old should be released while he appeals his remaining drug trafficking convictions.

Mokbel’s legal team successfully argued that his convictions were compromised due to the misconduct of his former lawyer, Nicola Gobbo, who acted as a police informant.

This revelation has led to the overturning of several other convictions related to the scandal.

The court found Mokbel’s case for appeal to be “very strong”, with Justice Karin Emerton stating that he had established “truly exceptional” circumstances for bail.

Under strict conditions, Mokbel will stay at his sister Gawy Saad‘s home in Viewbank, Melbourne.

Saad provided a $1 million surety to secure his release, including $100,000 from a bank cheque and the remaining amount in equity from a property in Yallambie.

He will be subject to GPS monitoring, a curfew, daily reporting to the Heidelberg Police Station, and restrictions on leaving Victoria.

Mokbel’s appeal will challenge convictions related to his leadership of “The Company”, a major drug trafficking syndicate.

His legal team argues that the misconduct involving Gobbo led to a miscarriage of justice.

This decision comes in the wake of the Lawyer X scandal, which has had significant ramifications for Victoria Police and the judicial system.

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