Underbelly undone: Tony Mokbel’s life from immigrant to drug kingpin then fugitive to free after Lawyer X saga

Freedom feels “beautiful” for one of Australia’s most notorious crime figures after his only remaining drug charge was withdrawn by prosecutors.

Tony Mokbel, 60, spent almost two decades in custody since his dramatic arrest at an Athens cafe in 2007, after escaping to Greece on a yacht.

A smiling Mokbel walked out of Melbourne’s Supreme Court on Friday as a free man after a lengthy battle to overturn his drug convictions in the aftermath of the Lawyer X scandal. Asked by awaiting media how he felt by awaiting medi, Mokbel replied: “Beautiful. It feels really nice, and life goes on now.”

He said he was most looking forward to “going overseas, of course”.

“That would be great, to get on a nice plane. I used to always dream of getting on a plane when I was in jail,” Mokbel said.

“That’s probably the biggest mistake of my life, being in jail. I don’t recommend it for no one.”

He was asked if he planned to visit Greece and said “we’ll see how things flow”.

Mokbel was also questioned about whether he regretted drug trafficking.

“I don’t regret anything,” he replied, before he was followed by a media pack over the road to his lawyer’s office.

Appeal judges last year ordered he face a retrial over the remaining charge, which related to alleged incitement to import MDMA in 2005.

He had argued his drug convictions were tainted as he was represented by barrister-turned-informer Nicola Gobbo, known as Lawyer X.

The Court of Appeal delivered a split decision in October 2025 on drug trafficking and importation convictions in three of his separate cases — known as Orbital, Magnum and Quills.

Mokbel was acquitted over Quills, ordered to face a retrial on Orbital but lost his appeal on the Magnum brief, the latter relating to his trafficking of 41kg methamphetamine between 2006 and 2007.

The appeal court in November sentenced him to time served — 13 years, seven months and 15 days — for the Magnum offending.

Prosecutor David Glynn announced the final Orbital charge had been discontinued in a brief hearing on Friday morning.

“On behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, I filed a discontinuance in relation to the one remaining charge on the indictment against Antonios Sajih Mokbel,” he told the court.

Judicial Registrar Timothy Freeman discharged Mokbel’s bail undertaking and told him “you are welcome to leave the dock”. A DPP spokeswoman said the director reached his decision after “careful consideration of all aspects of the matter relevant to the prospects of conviction and the public interest in a retrial”.

This included “the fact that there was no actual importation”, likely ongoing delays to any retrial and the age of the alleged offending.

She said the director also took into account the likely sentence that would be imposed on Mokbel, given his age, health and the lengthy term of imprisonment already served.

Mokbel declined to comment on whether he will be seeking compensation from the State of Victoria for his time in prison.

Life and times of Fat Tony

Mokbel’s journey from a modest background as a Lebanese immigrant to the kingpin of the “The Company” syndicate as well as his dramatic arrest in an Athens cafe, have given the underworld figure known as “Fat Tony” a cult following.

Born in Kuwait in 1965 to Lebanese parents, Mokbel migrated to Australia at age eight and grew up in poverty in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. Though he started out working at his brother’s pizza shop as a teenager, he rose within just six years to head a multimillion-dollar drug empire.

This ascent into the criminal elite effectively sparked the “underbelly” era of Melbourne’s gangland conflict.

His criminal record began in the early 1980s with convictions for assault, threats to kill, and weapons possession, followed by a 1992 sentence for attempting to bribe a County Court judge and a 1998 conviction for manufacturing amphetamines.

In the late 1990s he met then-lawyer Nicola Gobbo, who became his primary legal counsel in 2002.

In March 2006, Mokbel famously disappeared while on bail during a cocaine importation trial, and a 12-year sentence was handed down in his absence.

He spent eight months hiding in rural Victoria before driving to Western Australia to flee the country on a yacht, eventually arriving in Greece.

While a fugitive, he was charged with the murders of gangland patriarch Lewis Moran and kickboxer Michael Marshall.

His life on the run ended in June 2007 when he was arrested in Athens after authorities had intercepted a phone call where Mokbel arranged to meet a friend at a café. Mokbel, who was famously wearing an ill-fitting wig and using an alias, confirmed his true identity to Greek officers who had staged a fake immigration check at the cafe.

After a protracted legal battle in the Greek Supreme Court, he was extradited back to Australia in a chartered jet under heavy guard.

Although the Marshall murder charge was later dropped and a jury found him not guilty of Moran’s death, Mokbel pleaded guilty in 2011 to the Quills, Magnum, and Orbital drug charges.

In 2008, the first series of Underbelly cast Mokbel, played by Robert Mammone, as a central character. Because Mokbel was facing active charges at the time, the broadcast was famously banned in Victoria, airing to the rest of the country.

The dramatisation helped cement his cult status, earning him an active fan following that is still active today.

In 2012, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but in 2014 it was revealed that a high-profile lawyer — then known under the pseudonym ‘Lawyer X’ — had been assisting Victoria Police as an informer.

Intense speculation of the identity of Lawyer X continued until 2019 when the Victorian Court of Appeal denied a final bid by police to keep her identity a secret. The former police informant was revealed to be Nicola Gobbo who had been Mokbel’s legal representative.

The revelation of Ms Gobbo’s role as an informant compromised Mokbel’s convictions, leading to a decade-long legal battle that ultimately dismantled his 30-year sentence.

Last year, Mokbel was released from prison awaiting the result of his appeal.

Today’s decision marks the end of story that has become a central piece of Australia’s underworld lore.