Friday’s decision on Tony Mokbel’s bail application will go a long way to tell us what the Appeal Court is thinking about the underworld figure’s submission to have his drug trafficking charges quashed.
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Tony Mokbel is applying for bail.CREDIT: AAP
The court has three options:
- Say the evidence against him is overwhelming and the conviction stands.
- That the role of barrister-turned-police informer Nicola Gobbo meant he didn’t get a fair shake and the conviction is set aside so there can be a retrial.
- The whole thing is so poisoned that he should be acquitted and walk free.
You might remember that when
Jason Roberts’ convictions over the murders of police officers Gary Silk and Rod Miller were set aside, he was not granted bail because the High Court said the case against him remained strong. He was
acquitted in a second trial.
In a bail application on drug trafficking, there is a reverse onus, so the accused has to prove why he or she should be released.
The considerations are simple:
- How strong is the case?
- Is the accused a flight risk?
- Would they interfere with witnesses?
Is Mokbel a flight risk? Well, he has done a runner before. He jumped bail when facing cocaine charges – cleared off to
Dry Creek Road in Bonnie Doon, bought the Edwena, a 17.4-metre ketch, for $340,000, then hired a Greek crew to sail to Athens. This was no spur-of-the-moment decision.
He wasn’t blown off course on the SS Minnow, ending up on Gilligan’s Island – he scarpered, intending never to come back. When he was arrested in 2007, he had to be dragged back kicking and screaming onto a government chartered private jet.
He pleaded guilty to drug charges after his lawyer Peter Faris, KC, told him he was sunk by phone-tap material that had nothing to do with Gobbo.
No one doubts that Mokbel was a massive drug dealer. The question is whether the legitimate evidence before the courts proves he was a massive drug dealer.
This is not a case where a jury heard tainted evidence because there was no jury. He pleaded guilty because, guess what – he trafficked drugs, lots of them.
At one point, he had a secret meeting with police where he explained that he was not a murderer, just a drug dealer and that he wanted the killings to stop, so everyone could get back to doing what they did best.
Do the sums – in 1997, he had a small pizza shop and assets of $127,000. Four years later, he was worth $15 million. If he was making $10 a pizza, that’s 678 pizzas a day.
Authorities seized 54 properties, two farms, 30 cars, Edwena (the yacht he used to escape from Australia), a Caulfield horse stable, country hotel, Brunswick market, Sydney Road car park, Boronia pizza parlour, four jet skis, a champion racehorse and a Ferrari. Not bad for a bloke police described as “lacking financial acumen”.
He had his own fashion label called LSD – Love Style and Design – showing Mokbel had a broad portfolio and a sense of humour.
There is this sense that the courts may be tempted to acquit, to punish police for sneakily using Gobbo as a spy.
The best outcome may be to quash the conviction, then do a deal with Mokbel. We won’t re-try you if you don’t sue. He gets a real haircut off his initial sentence, doesn’t risk a longer one if convicted (he got a discount for pleading guilty), and we get to strike this off the books.
The Gobbo fiasco has had more probes than a mission to Mars and produced more gravy than an army battalion on meatloaf night. For many of the lawyers who worked on these inquiries, the greatest dilemma is the land tax bills on their new holiday homes.
The most surprising revelation during the bail application was that Mokbel now has a de facto partner – which is surprising, as he has been in maximum security prison for more than 6000 days. Maybe there is a dating app for convicted drug traffickers.
If Mokbel wants bail, he should get a machete and balaclava and start doing run-throughs on family homes. Then you certainly get bail, which is why there should be an Uber rank outside Barwon Prison.
If Mokbel is acquitted, the most concerning question may well be: Will he get back the wig he was wearing as a disguise when he was grabbed in an Athens restaurant way back in 2007?
