36 Facts About Tony Mokbel

Antonios Sajih Mokbel is an Australian criminal who has been convicted of a number of offences, most prominently commercial drug trafficking.

Tony Mokbel has spent most of his life in Melbourne, Australia.

Tony Mokbel has been linked to Carl Williams, and charged but not convicted of two murders in the Melbourne gangland war.

Tony Mokbel disappeared from Melbourne while on trial in March 2006, and was arrested by Greek police in Athens on 5 June 2007.

Tony Mokbel remained incarcerated until 4 April 2025 when he was bailed in the aftermath of the gangland Lawyer X scandal.

Tony Mokbel was born in Kuwait, where his Lebanese parents were expatriate workers.

Tony Mokbel's family were part of the country's Christian minority and chose to leave the country following sectarian conflict in the lead-up to the Lebanese Civil War.

Tony Mokbel spoke no English upon arrival in Australia and struggled at school, attending St Margaret Mary's Primary School, Brunswick High School and Moreland High School but was a keen Australian rules football player.

Tony Mokbel's father drowned at Bondi Beach in Sydney on his 16th birthday.

Tony Mokbel had no criminal record prior to his father's death; a psychological profile completed following his incarceration concluded that this was a defining moment in his life.

Tony Mokbel took various other jobs in the next years, before purchasing a milk bar with his wife at age 19.

Tony Mokbel was first arrested for a street brawl aged 18, and first incarcerated in 1992, having been caught attempting to bribe a judge.

Tony Mokbel initially dealt in marijuana, then moved in to speed and later ecstasy pills as well.

Tony Mokbel found success in this trade, and rapidly gained wealth and notoriety throughout the next decade, forming an enterprise known as The Company.

At that meeting, it is said that Tony Mokbel was beaten, nearly to death, by Nik Radev's bodyguard, Western Australian Troy Mercanti, who was a member of the Coffin Cheaters motorcycle gang.

Tony Mokbel was alleged to have laundered over $2 million through At the Top of the Town, a high-profile Melbourne CBD brothel which he purchased through a business associate.

Tony Mokbel was arrested in August 2001 for a small importation of cocaine of the previous year.

Tony Mokbel was bailed in 2002, but while on bail, he was caught attempting to organise an importation of drugs chemicals through an undercover AFP officer.

Tony Mokbel was arrested on associated charges in September 2005, but again was granted bail.

Tony Mokbel first hid himself at a friend's house in Bonnie Doon, Victoria, while an associate made preparations for a maritime escape to Greece.

Tony Mokbel set sail on November 11, and arrived in Greece on 24 December 2006.

Tony Mokbel was charged with Lewis Moran's murder on 28 February 2007.

Faure and Goussis were both convicted of the murder, but Tony Mokbel was acquitted in September 2009.

Tony Mokbel was charged in 2007 with the October 2003 murder of suspected drug dealer Michael Marshall, but prosecutors later withdrew this charge.

Tony Mokbel became Australia's most wanted fugitive, until his eventual arrest by Greek police in Athens on 5 June 2007.

Tony Mokbel made appeals against the extradition in three Australian courts, as well as the Athens Court of Appeal, Greek Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.

Lebanon would not extradite Tony Mokbel to Australia, as he is a Lebanese citizen, and so successful extradition to Lebanon would have enabled his permanent escape.

On 17 May 2008, Tony Mokbel arrived at Melbourne Airport aboard a Gulfstream jet along with eight Lebanese men.

In July 2012, Tony Mokbel was further sentenced to 30 years with a minimum term of 22 years in the Supreme Court of Victoria, having pleaded guilty to three charges associated with his role in The Company drug syndicate.

On 27 February 2012, Tony Mokbel suffered a mild heart attack.

On 11 February 2019, Tony Mokbel was stabbed in Barwon Prison.

Tony Mokbel appealed his convictions on the basis that his barrister, Nicola Gobbo, was simultaneously acting as a police informant.

In 2023, Tony Mokbel's sentence was reduced from 30 years with a non-parole period of 22 years to a 26-year sentence with a 20-year non-parole period.

The reduced sentence meant that Tony Mokbel was to be eligible for parole by 2031.

Tony Mokbel had numerous affairs during his marriage to Carmel, and in late 2000 left his wife and began a long-term relationship with Danielle McGuire.

Tony Mokbel and McGuire had one child together, born in 2006 and named Renate after Tony Mokbel's sister-in-law.