Notorious underworld figure Tony Mokbel has snubbed a ‘fan’ just days after he was released from prison.
Mokbel was bailed on Friday after spending 18 years in custody for running a major drug operation.
The convicted criminal was reporting to police, as part of his bail conditions, at Heidelberg station on Monday.
One eager fan of Mokbel’s decided to lay in wait for the notorious figure, hoping for him to autograph his copy of the Fat Tony and Co DVD.
Fat Tony and Co was a 2014 series in the Underbelly franchise that starred Robert Mammone as Tony Mokbel.
7News was on the scene capturing Mokbel’s police visit, and the footage showed him brushing past the crestfallen fan as he made his way into the police station.
Notorious underworld figure Tony Mokbel has snubbed a ‘fan’ just days after he was released from prison.
Seven spoke to the man after his near brush with infamy, and he remained philosophical about the snub.
‘I brought the Fat Tony and Co DVD – just thought I might be able to get a signature from him but he wasn’t interested,’ the unnamed man admitted.
‘But that’s alright, that’s all good. Had a go, that’s the main thing.’
Tony Mokbel was released on Friday after the Court of Appeal agreed he had been set up by disgraced former lawyer and police informer Nicola Gobbo.
Mokbel previously said the first two things he will do upon his release will be seeing his children and visiting his mother’s grave, the Herald Sun reported.
The decision to release Mokbel stirred audible gasps from his supporters, who crammed into the courthouse alongside a full-blown media circus.
Mokbel had been treated like a celebrity from within the prison dock, shaking hands and chatting with his supporters – two of which left court in an orange Lamborghini on Tuesday.
He had arrived in court on Friday once again in an armoured vehicle and escorted inside by Security and Emergency Services Group guards.
The convicted criminal was reporting to police, as part of his bail conditions, at Heidelberg station on Monday
One eager fan of Mokbel’s decided to lay in wait for the notorious figure, hoping for him to autograph his copy of the Fat Tony and Co DVD
While free on bail, Mokbel will be forced to wear a GPS ankle bracelet that will monitor his every movement.
He will need to report to the local police station every day and adhere to a strict curfew between 11pm and 6am.
The court heard Mokbel had ‘strong family support’ and a mystery long-term de facto partner.
In setting Mokbel free on bail, Justices Karin Emerton, Robert Osborn and Jane Dixon agreed he stood a solid chance of winning his appeal against three convictions for drug trafficking, which is expected to be heard later this year.
If he wins, it will likely result in his complete release.
His current sentence expires in 2037, but he is eligible for parole in June 2031.
Prosecutors had argued Mokbel could not be trusted to comply with his bail conditions given his infamous escape to Greece just before Christmas 2006.
‘I brought the Fat Tony and Co DVD – just thought I might be able to get a signature from him but he wasn’t interested,’ the unnamed man admitted to 7News. ‘But that’s alright, that’s all good. Had a go, that’s the main thing.’
Mokbel’s barrister Julie Condon, KC, told the court her client had ‘exceptional circumstances’ for being released on bail, describing his case as ‘very rare’.
His bail had hinged on nine factors, including his poor health, the strength of his appeal case and his circumstances in custody.
Mokbel had been languishing in jail since 2007 when he was caught in Greece after going on the run from Melbourne while on bail.
Known more widely as ‘Lawyer X’, Nicola Gobbo had been Mokbel’s lawyer while informing against him in the early 2000s when he was a kingpin of Melbourne’s deadly Underbelly War.
It was a 12-year war that began in January 1998 and ended in August 2010 with 36 underworld figures dead.
