A smiling Tony Mokbel arrives at court in a tailored suit, looking to quash convictions

Former drug kingpin Tony Mokbel has appeared in court for the first time since he was released on bail after nearly 18 years in jail as his bid to overturn his drug convictions begins.

An ageing Mokbel, 60, climbed the stairs of the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday, dressed in a tailored dark blue suit and black leather shoes, for day one of a four-day appeal hearing, arguing the court should quash his convictions because of the Lawyer X scandal.

Tony Mokbel arrives at court on Tuesday.Credit: Jason South

Mokbel was handed a 30-year prison sentence in 2012, with a non-parole period of 22 years, after pleading guilty to masterminding an elaborate drug syndicate. Nicola Gobbo, who was working as a double agent for police, had represented him before his sentencing, and this forms the basis of Mokbel’s appeal.

On Monday, three Court of Appeal judges heard there are two appeals running at the same time. The first is Mokbel’s appeal against his conviction for two charges of trafficking a large commercial quantity of drugs and incitement to import a prohibited import.

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Both Mokbel and the Office of Public Prosecutions have also filed appeals relating to a referral determination judgment handed down by Justice Elizabeth Fullerton in November 2024, which sought to answer 21 questions.

Mokbel’s barrister, Julie Condon, KC, said her client should have been made aware that Gobbo was a supergrass before entering his 2012 plea. Condon told the court both Victoria Police and then director of public prosecutions John Champion were aware the integrity of the convictions could have been at risk at a meeting on June 1, 2012.

She said proactive steps should have been taken to do something with this information, rather than “passively accept a drip feed of information”, and Mokbel’s sentencing suspended.

“It’s highly significant ... Tony Mokbel’s name was mentioned [at that meeting],” Condon said.

“This is extraordinary information that is being imparted to the director, that a practising criminal barrister, who the director knows, has been a registered informer working for Victoria Police and the applicant’s name is mentioned in that regard,” the court heard.

The OPP disagreed and argued suspending the sentencing would have seen the case put on hold for years without the ability to tell Mokbel why, while investigations took place, keeping him “completely in the dark”.

They also argued one of the prosecutions – known as the Orbital matter – was an “open and shut” case of incitement to import drugs with Mokbel recorded meeting with a covert operative and placing an order to import drugs.

“The only defence was why he did that,” David Gwynn, barrister for the OPP, said.

Mokbel’s legal team maintain there is evidence that their client called to cancel the order, leaving a voicemail on the phone of one of the undercover police officers.

It was the first time Mokbel has returned to the Court of Appeal since April, when he walked free from custody for the first time in almost 18 years after three judges granted him bail with strict conditions, including wearing a GPS ankle monitor.

Mokbel arriving at court. Credit: Jason South

His legal team argues his drug trafficking prosecution had been hopelessly corrupted by the Lawyer X scandal.

“He has a very strong case that his convictions … should be quashed,” Justice Karin Emerton said at the time.

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Emerton said the most concerning aspect when examining Mokbel’s bail application was his 2006 bail breach, when he absconded and fled to Greece hidden inside a 17-metre yacht. He is now banned from going within two kilometres of airports.

Emerton also said medical reports showed Mokbel was no longer the man he was owing to a serious assault on him while in jail in 2019.

The hearing continues.

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