Drug kingpin Tony Mokbel has left Barwon prison and is on his way to a Melbourne court to learn if he could be freed after 18 years behind bars.
Mokbel, 59, is being driven to court in a Bearcat armoured vehicle, usually reserved for high-security operations.
The gangland figure applied for his release from prison on bail on Tuesday, amid heavy security, as he awaits his Lawyer X appeal to overturn his remaining drug trafficking convictions.
Mokbel has not tasted freedom since his 2007 arrest in Greece, after he famously absconded inside a yacht while on bail with a $1 million surety from his sister-in-law Renate.
She was jailed after failing to pay the surety, her home seized and she was then sentenced to two years and nine months in 2008 for lying to a court about her assets.
A different sister, Gawy Saad, has now offered $850,000 in surety to secure Mokbel’s bail and said she was “sure he won’t do it to anyone else” when asked about what happened to her sister-in-law.
Mokbel has agreed to abide by what his lawyer said were “stringent” bail conditions, including GPS monitoring, a curfew, daily police reporting and that he cannot leave Victoria.
He would live at Saad’s four-bedroom home at Viewbank, in Melbourne’s north-east and she told the court she would give an undertaking to report him to police if he flouted any bail conditions.
Mokbel’s barrister Julie Condon KC cited delays in hearing his appeal, the strength of his case, his poor physical health, strong ties to jurisdiction due to his family and “long-term de facto” relationship, as exceptional circumstances to prove he should be released on bail.
He is fighting to overturn drug trafficking convictions, after he pleaded guilty to heading a multi-million dollar drug trafficking empire known as “The Company”.
Mokbel was represented at the time by barrister-turned-supergrass Nicola Gobbo, unaware she was informing for Victoria Police.
Justices Karin Emerton, Robert Osborn and Jane Dixon are due to hand down their decision in the Court of Appeal this morning.
Mokbel is currently eligible for parole in June 2031 and an appeal over his drug trafficking convictions will be heard later this year.
