After 18 years behind bars, convicted drug kingpin Tony Mokbel has spent his first weekend of freedom surrounded by family, friends, and intense public interest—particularly from Melbourne’s large Lebanese and Greek communities, many of whom remember his dramatic fall from grace and exile to Greece.
On Sunday, Mokbel attended a service at Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church in Thornbury, a suburb known for its vibrant Mediterranean diaspora. Dressed casually in jeans and a blue shirt, the 59-year-old was met with an enthusiastic welcome from congregants, some of whom embraced and shook hands with the once-feared underworld figure as if greeting a local celebrity.
Mokbel’s presence at the church echoed a full-circle moment. It was the same church where his late mother, Lora Mokbel, was farewelled in 2013—a service Mokbel was unable to attend due to his incarceration. Upon his release last Friday, one of his first acts was to visit her grave at Fawkner Memorial Park, accompanied by an entourage.
The Victorian Court of Appeal granted Mokbel bail after finding he may have been the victim of a grave miscarriage of justice. His former lawyer, Nicola Gobbo—also known as “Lawyer X”—had been acting as a police informant while defending him, compromising multiple cases. Mokbel is now appealing three of his drug trafficking convictions, and if successful, he could be released entirely.
Mokbel’s first weekend of freedom has not gone unnoticed. On Saturday, he was seen shopping at Northland’s Myer department store with a dark-haired woman believed to be a romantic partner. They later joined his sister, Gawy Saad, and her husband at a park in Viewbank, where Mokbel appeared relaxed and jovial.
Though free, Mokbel remains under strict bail conditions, including daily check-ins at Heidelberg Police Station, a GPS ankle monitor, and a nightly curfew. He made no comment to waiting reporters as he left the station on Sunday, but his silence did little to cool media interest.
The man once dubbed “Fat Tony” is a figure of legend in Australia’s criminal history, having orchestrated a vast drug empire and famously fled to Greece by yacht while on bail in 2006. He was captured in Athens in 2007 and extradited to Australia, where he was eventually sentenced in 2012 after a series of major police operations.
Mokbel’s connections to the Greek community remain strong. His 2006 escape from Australia involved a Greek crew, and his months on the run were spent in Athens, where he blended in until his arrest. Now, his legal team argues that key evidence used to convict him was tainted by Gobbo’s double-dealing, which has rocked the foundations of Victoria’s justice system.
The possibility of Mokbel walking free has sparked concern in some quarters. Neighbours of his sister’s home in Melbourne’s north, where Mokbel is now staying, have expressed fears over safety, citing his past and potential retribution from old enemies.
Despite this, for many in Melbourne’s multicultural inner suburbs, Mokbel’s return signals a complex mixture of intrigue, nostalgia, and community loyalty. With a possible retrial or full acquittal on the horizon, the next chapter in the saga of Tony Mokbel could be just as dramatic as the last.
(Source: Daily Mail)