Tony Mokbel walks free from custody for first time in 18 years

Saad acknowledged her other sister had already lost a $1 million surety she put up in 2006 when Mokbel famously fled to Greece while on bail.

She told the court her brother had been punished enough for his crimes and that she was sure he would not flee again.

“Look, he’s been punished for it and he’s done his time. I’m sure he wouldn’t do it [flee] to anyone else or me. That’s my strong belief,” she testified.

The court heard she had assets worth more than $2.5 million tied up in properties in Yallambie and Viewbank, including Mokbel’s bail address – a four-bedroom, two-ensuite property his younger sister and her husband, Youssef Saad, live in.

The prosecution told the court that Mokbel’s flight risk was not low, given that the last time the mastermind of drug-trafficking operation The Company was free, he fled Australia hidden inside a 17-metre yacht.

Mokbel, 59, will be subject to an 8pm-to-6am curfew and must remain at his sister’s home each night.

Private bail company Allied Universal, based in New Zealand, will monitor Mokbel’s movements via his ankle bracelet around the clock, charging more than $25,000 a year for the service, which Mokbel is funding.

Mokbel’s barrister, Julie Condon, KC, relied on nine factors in seeking bail for Mokbel, including his poor health, the strength of his appeal case and his circumstances in custody.

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Condon revealed Mokbel was in a long-term relationship and had family who lived locally, giving him strong ties to the community.

He was handed a 30-year prison sentence, with a non-parole period of 22 years, in 2012 after pleading guilty to masterminding an elaborate drug syndicate.

Mokbel has applied to have his entire conviction quashed because of the Lawyer X scandal, after the discovery that his barrister, Nicola Gobbo, was also working as a double agent for police. That hearing is set to take place before the end of the year.

In granting his bail on Friday, Justice Emerton said Mokbel’s appeal case was strong.

“He has a very strong case that his convictions … should be quashed,” she said.

Emerton said the most concerning aspect when examining Mokbel’s bail application was his 2006 bail breach.

Today’s circumstances are different, she said, as Mokbel is seeing out a criminal process that began almost 20 years ago.

“He’s spent much of his time in harsh conditions [in prison],” she said. “That’s likely to have a deterrent effect.”

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

Mokbel is due back in court in May.

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