With Tony Mokbel's Big Fat Greek Adventure coming to a close the alleged organised crime boss now faces a clear choice — freedom or family.
Now that Greek Justice Minister Sotiris Hadjigakis has signed the formal extradition papers Mokbel will be on a plane (either commercial or chartered) within weeks to return to Melbourne to face drug and murder charges.
Mokbel jumped bail while he was on trial for drug trafficking in March 2006. He was sentenced to a minimum of nine years' jail in his absence.
He has since been charged with the murders of gangland figures Michael Marshall (October 2003) and Lewis Moran (March 2004).
He has also been charged with controlling six drug labs while on the run.
The prosecution cases, compiled by the Purana Ganglands Taskforce, are based on phone tap material, money trails, key informers and an undercover agent's testimony.
Evidence submitted in recent Magistrates Court hearings allegedly shows Mokbel to be a prodigious drug dealer who doesn't care if the powders his team produce are toxic to his customers.
When told his drugs were making people sick, causing them to go to hospital, Mokbel allegedly gave advice that the powders should be mixed with pseudoephedrine to improve potency levels.
Analysis of the financial patterns is said to have revealed 44 suspect transactions including $10,000 to his mother as a Christmas present. Police also grabbed a courier who was allegedly about to send $500,000 to Mokbel in Greece.
Lawyers, police, criminal associates and even relatives who know Mokbel believe that when he returns he will be desperate to do a deal to seek to minimise his jail sentence.
If he agreed to plead guilty he could be entitled to a discount but possibly not a hefty one. Facing life with no minimum, a mandatory discount would still leave him with a monster sentence. Aged 43, he would know that his bleak future could involve swapping his Ferrari lifestyle for a prison-issue walking frame.
The problem is that Mokbel is unlikely to be able to sweeten the deal by giving up subordinates.
So what does he have to offer?
He will have to give information on the murders of police informer Terence Hodson and wife Christine Hodson, who were killed in their Kew home on May 15, 2004, for authorities to even consider plea discussions. Detectives believe the double murder was set up by a corrupt former member of the drug squad.
Mokbel will have to give up the former police behind the Hodson murders to have a chance of receiving a sentence of less than 30 years. The deal will be simple — rat or rot.
A special taskforce, code-named Petra, is investigating the double murder. Convicted gangland killer Carl Williams has claimed a former policeman told him that Hodson was "a problem" and had to go. Williams claimed the former detective later said the matter had been "sorted". It was just before the double murder.
Hodson, a drug dealer, had been executed after he agreed to give evidence against two detectives, Paul Dale and David Miechel, who had been using him as an informer.
The case against Dale collapsed but Miechel was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 12 years' jail.
Taskforce investigators have secretly visited Miechel in jail but he has refused to co-operate with any investigation.
Some within Purana would prefer Mokbel to run the legal gauntlet but senior lawyers in the Office of Public Prosecutions have privately indicated they want him to become a witness.
While Mokbel might have no issue in sinking bent cops to save himself there is a sticking point. He would have to name the actual killer and the star suspect is a man who is virtually related to him through marriage.
The suspect is a cold-blooded killer implicated in the murders of Mike Schievella, 44, and his partner, Heather McDonald, 36, at their St Andrews home in 1990.
Police said they were bound and tied and their throats slashed. One theory was they were killed because they were suspected of talking to police.
The suspect has been listed as a person of interest in three murders in the 1980s including standover man Brian Kane, who was shot in the Quarry Hotel in Brunswick in 1982.
The man has also been named as a suspect in the murder of lawyer-turned-gangland-figure Mario Condello, who was shot in the garage of his Brighton home in February 2006.
The former armed robber and gunman once formed a hatred against a policeman who had arrested him. His cell was covered with hanged stick-figures with the detective's name scrawled under each one.
Mokbel has previously shown little concern about the welfare of those close to him. When he fled bail his sister-in-law Renata was jailed when she could not produce the $1 million bail surety.
Mokbel's Greek lawyers continue to make noises about their pending appeal to the European Court of Human Rights but they know the jig is up.
Federal authorities remain determined to make Mokbel's return as low key as possible. There will be no fanfare when he returns to Melbourne and is taken to Barwon Prison.
Police Minister Bob Cameron said, "However they get him back here, I'm not particularly fussed and I don't think Victorians are particularly fussed. How much it costs doesn't matter."
His de facto wife, Danielle McGuire, her daughter and their baby Renata will have to make their own arrangements.
In this week's state budget an extra $4.7 million was allocated to Corrections Victoria to manage high-profile gangland inmates such as Mokbel.
Source:
Mokbel will touch down to a simple dilemma: rat or rot
By John Silvester
The Age
May 10, 2008
Mokbel loses final appeal
May 7, 2008
Tony Mokbel may be sent home within weeks after Greece approved his extradition.
The alleged killer lost his last appeal against being deported after Greek Justice Minister Sotiris Hadjigakis yesterday ratified a decision by the Supreme Court two months ago.
The minister ruled the 42-year-old Melbourne man should be sent to Australia to face up to 17 charges related to drug importation and the deaths of underworld heavyweights Lewis Moran and Michael Marshall.
The approval is the last formal step in the legal process to approve an extradition that began almost a year ago.
Mokbel could be extradited within two weeks after transportation details are worked out.
Mokbel was arrested in Athens last year on an Interpol warrant after skipping bail in 2006 while on trial in Australia for cocaine smuggling.
At the time, he was described as the country's most wanted fugitive and Australia sentenced him to up to 12 years in prison after convicting him in absentia.
Mokbel claims he is innocent of the murder charges and has argued Australian courts would not offer him a fair trial.
His defence team said senior police and government officials in Australia had publicly blamed Mokbel for crimes for which he has not been convicted.
After losing the fight in the courts in March, Mokbel's legal team had hoped to persuade Mr Hadjigakis that their client was unlikely to get a fair trial in Australia due to the publicity of his case.
Instead, they suggested he be extradited to Lebanon, where he also faces serious drugs charges.
Lebanese authorities sent through a warrant and request for extradition last month. Lawyers also took Mokbel's case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
It is expected Victoria Police detectives will travel to Athens to collect Mokbel and escort him back.
One of Mokbel's many lawyers, Yiannis Vlachos, confirmed the long battle to avoid justice in Australia was over.
Mokbel was arrested in June last year at a cafe near his beachside Athens home that he rented with his partner Danielle and baby daughter Renate. Danielle could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
Victoria's Police Minister Bob Cameron said there had been no official word from Greece on Mokbel.
"We welcome the news coming out of Greece," he said last night. "However, Victoria Police is yet to receive any official confirmation."
Source:
Accused killer Tony Mokbel loses final appeal
By Charles Miranda
Herald Sun
May 8, 2008
Plan to keep jail gang war free
May 7, 2008
Millions of dollars will be spent over the next four years to keep notorious gangland figures from attacking each other in prison and communicating with people on the outside.
As part of a $657 million community safety package, this week's state budget earmarked $4.7 million for "managing high-profile, high-security prisoners, following prominent court cases".
Corrections Commissioner Kelvin Anderson said yesterday that the money was to be used to pay for 12 extra staff to cope with the complex and unique problems caused by having high-profile inmates such as Carl Williams incarcerated at the maximum security Barwon Prison. Williams is serving a minimum of 35 years for his role in four underworld murders.
He and some of his associates are housed at the prison, as are inmates connected to the Moran family.
Williams was convicted over the murder of Jason Moran.
Mr Anderson said extra staff were needed to manage the complex relationships within the prison and to stop the inmates communicating with their wider criminal networks outside.
"We've seen by their nature that the crime has been very organised, and we need to make sure that we don't provide any opportunity for breaches of security," he said.
"We have to keep various parties separate and that takes more effort for us. Their activities, we have no doubt, have made some of them very unpopular with some prisoners in (the) mainstream."
As well as four extra prison officers, there are three more State Emergency Services Group officers, responsible for prisoner escort duty and searches, three intelligence analysts and two people at the major offenders unit, who are responsible for the assessment, classification and placement of prisoners.
"It is complex, because there is the inner group that everybody knows about and has probably featured in other states in a television series," Mr Anderson said, referring to Channel Nine's Underbelly series, which is banned in Victoria.
"Then associated with them are relatives who might have played a more minor role, but because of their association you still have the attendant problems that come with them. Then you have some hangers-on around the periphery."
Recently, it was reported that Williams has fallen out with one of his few remaining allies, Sean Sonnet, who was convicted of conspiracy to murder Mario Condello, one of Williams' enemies.
Police have claimed that maximum security prisons have been recruiting grounds for major criminal figures.
One convicted gangland killer-turned-police witness gave evidence that he met Williams and drug lord Tony Mokbel in a high-security prison, where Williams offered him $100,000 to kill Moran.
If convicted drug trafficker Mokbel is extradited from Greece to face murder charges here, it is likely he will be held in Barwon's Melaleuca Unit, designed to house the "worst of the worst".
Source:
Plan to keep jail 'gang war free
By Dan Oakes
The Age
May 8, 2008
Niece backs up Goussis' alibi
(Geelong Advertiser)
May 6, 2008
A niece of Evangelos Goussis' has told a jury she spoke to her uncle on the telephone minutes before he is alleged to have killed Lewis Moran.
Marcia Besalas told the Supreme Court Goussis answered the phone when she rang her grandmother's Fairfield house at 6.21pm on March 31, 2004, about the time Moran was shot dead.
Phone records show Ms Besalas rang from her home in Blackburn, with the call lasting more than three minutes.
She said she had learned her grandmother was unwell and wanted to find out her condition.
The court heard during cross examination Ms Besalas did not phone her grandmother's house again that night.
Ms Besalas said she could not remember why she did not make further contact, despite being worried about her grandmother.
Police prosecuter Andrew Tinney suggested she had not made the call at all.
Ms Besalas said she did, and denied that it was in fact her auntie Olga Vlahos she spoke to and not Goussis.
Gatto knocks out reporter
May 4, 2008
What happens when a TV reporter gets into the ring with Mick Gatto? Simple: the reporter gets decked.
That's exactly what happened to A Current Affair's Martin King, who was assigned to interview the Carlton identity.
Gatto, who shot dead - but was acquitted of the murder of - Andrew "Benji" Veniamin at the height of Melbourne's gangland wars, agreed to talk to King as long he faced off for a bout in the boxing ring of his palatial suburban Melbourne home.
King agreed and stood face-to-face with the former professional fighter. Minutes later Gatto landed a jarring left hook to King's face that sent him sprawling to the canvas.
"It was fun until he actually started to hit me," King said.
"The first punch in the head is worse because it's shock and pain, after that it's just pain. I actually landed quite a few punches but what worried me was, I think Mick quite enjoyed it.
"The thing is, I didn't want to hit him too hard because all that would do was make him angry and that wouldn't be healthy for any of us."
King has a bit of swelling and bruising, tender ribs and a fractured ego.
The interview - and knockout punch - will be shown on A Current Affair on Monday at 6.30pm.
Source:
Into the ring step a feared Carlton figure
Sunday Herald Sun
May 4, 2008
Garde-Wilson caught with needles at jail
May 4, 2008
Gangland lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson has been collared with drug paraphernalia in her car boot during a prison "sting".
The flamboyantly-dressed legal eagle was caught in a "targeted" search at the Metropolitan Remand Centre in Melton during the week, according to prison sources.
It could be another setback for Ms Garde-Wilson in her fight to keep practising and means she cannot consult clients in jail in person.
Yesterday, Ms Garde-Wilson claimed she was not at the centre on Wednesday and had not been banned, but refused to answer further questions.
Ms Garde-Wilson - whose de facto Lewis Caine was murdered in May 2004 in Melbourne's infamous underworld wars - was visiting a prisoner on Wednesday night when her car was searched, a source said.
Prison officers found 100 needles and 125 syringes in her car boot, they said.
"She told prison officers it was no big deal," a source said.
"Zarah said they were for her boyfriend who used steroids and there was nothing illegal about that."
The source said steroids prescribed by doctors were legal.
But her car was parked on prison property and the needles and syringes were banned from prisons under Corrections Victoria rules, the source said.
The source claimed she was banned from visiting inmates for three months.
If the ban has been imposed, she is effectively prevented from face-to-face consultations with clients on remand waiting for their court cases or prisoners appealing convictions.
Other lawyers said the Legal Services Board could use a ban to strip her of her legal licence.
A board spokesman said yesterday it was too early to comment but the board dealt with "each matter on its own merits".
A leading criminal barrister, who did not want to be named, said it was "foolish" to flout prison rules.
"The remand centre has high-tech security everywhere," he said.
"You have to have your eyeball (iris) photographed as well as your face to be registered as a visitor.
"There are always random checks being carried out by prison officers and everyone knows that the car park is still part of the jail."
Another lawyer yesterday described Ms Garde-Wilson as an "outsider".
"She doesn't mix with anyone, she keeps totally to herself," he said.
"Zarah is a lonely woman and shrinks into herself if you attempt to talk to her."
And others said Ms Garde-Wilson embarrassed other female lawyers with her revealing attire.
The Legal Services Board ruled in December 2006 Ms Garde-Wilson was not a fit and proper person to hold a practising certificate.
But Ms Garde-Wilson is fighting the ban through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Supreme Court.
She is allowed to practise until the cases are decided.
Source:
Garde-Wilson caught in jail sting
By Sue Hewitt and Peter Rolfe
Sunday Herald Sun
May 4, 2008
Decision on Mokbel extradition
May 4, 2008
Tony Mokbel could be back in Australia within a fortnight after Greek authorities confirmed a decision on his extradition would be made this week.
An announcement from Greek Justice Minister Sotiris Hadjigakis is expected on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Greece's Supreme Court has ruled Mokbel should be returned to Australia.
But formal approval by the Greek Government is needed before he can return to face court.
It is unusual in Greece for a justice minister to overturn a decision of the Supreme Court.
Mokbel is wanted in Australia to face charges, including murder and drug manufacturing.
Goussis was 'with his mum'
(Herald Sun)
May 1, 2008
The sister of alleged hitman Evangelos Goussis has told a jury her brother was at home with their sick mother the night Lewis Moran was killed.
Goussis' sister today told the Supreme Court she saw him at their mother's Fairfield home at 6.30pm on March 31, 2004 - the exact time the prosecution says Moran, an underworld patriach, was shot dead at the Brunswick Club.
The court heard during cross-examination that his older sister Olga Vlahos had originally told police she got home after 8pm, and found Goussis alone in the house.
On the day of the murder Goussis drove from his home in Geelong to say goodbye to his mother and a relative, who were leaving for a holiday in Greece, the court was told.
Ms Vlahos gave evidence her brother told her he was tired and would spend the day relaxing at their mother's.
She said her 79-year-old mother went blue and collapsed at the airport, and was taken to emergency at Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Ms Vlahos said her mother was discharged and she drove her back to Fairfield, arriving home about 6.25pm or 6.30pm to be greeted by Goussis, 40, who is accused of chasing and executing Moran while a second man guarded the door.
The court heard Ms Vlahos told police in a September 3, 2004, statement that she and her mother got home from the hospital between 8-8.15pm, and Goussis was there alone.
Prosecutor Andrew Tinney asked Ms Vlahos why her account had changed.
She replied the times were wrong in her statement because she wasn't given telephone records to refer to.
She did not know then what time Moran had been shot.
Moran taskforce 'sharks', court hears
The Age
April 28, 2008
The police taskforce investigating the Lewis Moran murder contained "sharks" who went on a feeding frenzy when they saw blood in the water, a prisoner said in a secretly recorded jail conversation played in the Supreme Court.
The inmate — who has since nominated himself as the driver when Moran was killed — told then fellow inmate Evangelos Goussis on September 29, 2004, that the police were investigating a big case.
"If they break through with it, once they're on, they're like sharks … Once they get blood in the water, they go on a feeding frenzy," the prisoner said, according to the transcript made from the conversation.
"The more you do that, the more you open the door, they're sharks. They're f---ing rats and … they're just gunna keep f---in' thrashing around the waters till they get every drop of blood out of ya. That's why they call them Purana."
The conversations were played before a jury sitting in the trial of Goussis, 40, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Moran on March 31, 2004.
The jurors and Justice Betty King have seen security camera footage of a masked gunman shooting Moran, and a second gunman shooting his friend Herbert Wrout at the Brunswick Club.
Goussis, who is alleged to have shot and killed Moran, has also pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Mr Wrout.
Defence counsel Stephen Shirrefs, SC, has said that Goussis was in Port Phillip Prison, on remand for an unrelated matter, at the same time as the quoted criminal in 2004. The criminal, who cannot be identified, has given evidence in the trial that Goussis was one of three men involved in the contract killing, and admitted shooting Moran.
In the September 29 taped conversation he urged Goussis not to help them or make statements.
Late in the day Detective Senior Constable Simon Hunt, formerly with Purana taskforce, said in court that no prison informers were implicating Goussis and the criminal in the Lewis Moran murder.
Fenech gloves up at Gatto's chateau
April 27, 2008
Former world boxing champion Jeff Fenech has turned to Mick Gatto for help as he prepares his comeback bout against Ghana's Azumah Nelson.
Fenech, 43, has begun training at Gatto's in-house ring and gym, and has lost 18kg in seven weeks.
Sydney-based Fenech said he planned to train every morning at Chatteau Gatto in Lower Plenty in the lead up to his June 24 grudge match aginst Nelson, expected to be held at Vodaphone Arena.
"I've known Mick for a while but for the last four or five years spent quality time with him. I've been to his family weddings and I respect him a great deal," Fenech said.
Gatto won five of his nine professional fights from 1973-79 and was ranked in the top ten heavyweights in Australia, said Fenech would "destroy Nelson in the clash of the triple world champions.
"He's been a good friend of mine in hard times, and he's a great champ," Gatto said.
Fenech said he thought Nelson, 49, would "try to knock me out, but he;'s no fitter than me. No one trains harder than I do".
Source:
Fenech gloves up at Gatto's chateau
By Craig Hutchison
Sunday Herald Sun
April 27, 2008
Fan fare gives boxing flair
April 24, 2008
Fists were flying at Malvern Town Hall on Anzac Day eve when Shannon MacMahon claimed the Bob Rose Cup with a fourth-round knock-out of Tom Hateley.
But there was as much interest outside the ring as was it in, with some colourful identities spotted in the crowd.
Former Collingwood player Rene Kink presented the cup, named in honour of former Magpie great Rose, to MacMahon.
Former world boxing champion Lester Ellis was ringside while ex-Melbourne captain Robbie Flower was also spotted along with Kink's new sparring partner Mick Gatto.
Prominent lawyers George Defteros and Zarah Garde-Wilson were also in the crowd.
Source:
Fan fare gives boxing flair
By Daryl Timms
Herald Sun
April 28, 2008
Moran kill film shown
(Geelong Advertiser)
April 22, 2008
Jurors in Evangelos Goussis' murder trial today watched crime scene footage of Lewis Moran's lifeless body slumped against a wall after he was executed.
Moran was lying in a pool of blood, his head resting against a stairwell. Wounds to his head and body were visible.
An eerie quiet descended on the court as the silent crime scene footage of Moran's final moment were shown.
Unlike CCTV footage shown to the jury earlier, the police video was in colour, providing a new picture of he bright and colourful Brunswick Club.
But as the camera surveyed the club, the vibe became much darker.
Crime scene markers and chairs highlighted where bullets and other pieces of evidence were found.
A chair was apparently knocked over as Moran tried to flee the gunman, while plastice cups littered the carpet in the gaming area.
Then the camera focussed on Moran's body, studing it from several different angles.
Pathologist Noel Woodford explained Moran's major wounds to the court - including bullet wounds to his shoulder, another through the back of his throat.
He described them as near contact wounds.
"The gunshot wounds in that case were the major issue," Dr Woodford said.
"I couldn't find another cause of death, and he had two gunshot wounds to the head."
Police forensic specialist Sergaent Bradley Mason said Moran's body was in a pool of blood when he attended the scene.
He said the blood patterns on the floor and walls were consistent with a high-velocity impact.
Moran informer tells of shame
(Herald Sun)
April 21, 2008
A career criminal who helped kill Lewis Moran says he is ashamed of himself for breaking the underworld code of silence.
The man who drove the getaway car on the night of Moran's March 2004 murder today told a jury he never thought he would end up an informer after spending his whole life obeying the gangland creed.
"I always viewed the police and the prosecution as the natural enemy," he said.
"I was born into a world which has a code of conduct.
"I feel ashamed of breaking that code."
The criminal is the star witness in the case against Evangelos Goussis, who is accused of being one of the two gunmen who stormed the Brunswick Club and shot Moran, 58, and wounded his mate Bert Wrout.
Mr Goussis, 40, has pleaded not guilty to murder.
The Supreme Court heard the criminal became an informer while in prison after being charged with Moran's murder, when his wife had a stroke.
He said his decision meant he had become an outcast in his world and his life as he knew it was effectively over.
"I have been broken. I feel like a broken man," he said.
The trial before Justice Betty King is continuing.
Gang mum TV showdown banned
April 21, 2008
A television showdown between crime matriarchs Judy Moran and Barbara Williams has been banned, just hours before it was due to go to air.
Supreme Court judge Betty King - who also banned the Nine's Underbelly series - has banned the on-air showdown which had been planned for tonight on the Seven Network.
Carl Williams is serving 35 years in jail for the murder of Jason Moran and his father Lewis Moran.
Justice King imposed an interim order stopping the interview going to air on Seven's Today Tonight until 4.15pm tomorrow when she will have further discussions about the program.
She made her decision after viewing the segment in court this afternoon.
Justice King banned the broadcast in Victoria of Underbelly until the completion of the current trial of Evangelos Goussis, who has pleaded not guilty to shooting Lewis Moran in the Brunswick Club in Melbourne in March 2005.
"Being the queen of banning things, it is, obviously, my role," Justice King told the trial's jury today before imposing the ban.
"If it is on, I urge you not to watch it - it's Mrs Williams and Mrs Moran.
"I don't know what's in it, but I don't imagine it's going to be edifying or pleasant or anything else - one thing it is not going to be, it is not going to be relevant."
She said the two women will have strong opinions and won't be hesitant in voicing them.
She told the jury that if members of their family or friends watch it, they should not talk to them about it.
"I do wonder about the timing, but that's a matter I have to deal with," she said.
Source:
Gang mum TV showdown banned
Herald Sun
April 21, 2008
Williams wins appeal
April 18, 2008
Carl Williams was granted leave today to fight his 35-year minimum jail sentence.
Williams appeared jovial during the brief Court of Appeal hearing as he smiled and waved at his mother, Barbara, and ex-wife Roberta.
Lawyers for the four-time killer claim his sentence was manifestly excessive because the sentencing judge failed to place appropriate weight on mitigating factors including his conditions in custody.
The court heard the crux of the appeal was whether Justice Betty King had given proper consideration to a statement Williams had given police.
Prosecutor Adrian Castle said evidence Williams gave at his plea hearing had made the statement unreliable and of no use to police.
Justice King said Williams was a coward and his evidence "unbelievable, even incredible at times", when sentencing him last May.
Mr Castle argued the grounds for appeal lacked substance when considered in the context of the whole of Williams' offending, which included four murders, a conspiracy to murder and drug trafficking.
"That alone makes a sentence of life with 35 years not manifestly excessive," Mr Castle said.
Lachlan Carter, for Williams, said when it came to considering a minimum term Justice King erred as a matter of evidence and law by not taking his client's statement into account.
Justice Marcia Neave granted the appeal, saying there were reasonably argued grounds.
But she warned Williams that did not mean his appeal would eventually succeed or time would be taken off his sentence.
Williams received three life sentences after pleading guilty to the murders of Jason Moran at a football clinic in 2003, Lewis Moran at a Brunswick pub in 2004 and drug dealer Mark Mallia in 2003.
He received a 25-year maximum term for a failed conspiracy to murder Mario Condello.
Williams was already serving a sentence for the murder of hot dog salesman Michael Marshall in South Yarra in 2003.
The appeal will be heard on a date to be fixed.
Source:
Killer Carl in bid for time off
By Katie Bice
Herald Sun
April 19, 2008
Former Noel Ashby colleagues provide information
April 18, 2008
Former top cop Noel Ashby may face charges that could see him jailed for 15 years after two colleagues turned against him.
A senior Victoria Police officer has made a formal statement implicating the former assistant commissioner in alleged criminal behaviour.
The serving officer recently came forward and agreed to provide the Office of Police Integrity with details of Mr Ashby's alleged offences. And a former senior Victoria Police employee is also likely to give evidence that will allegedly be very damaging to Mr Ashby.
The OPI has prepared briefs of evidence against Mr Ashby over five possible charges.
Those charges are perjury, misconduct in public office, misleading or attempting to mislead the OPI director, breach of an OPI confidentiality notice and breach of OPI confidentiality obligations.
If charged and convicted, Mr Ashby would face a maximum jail term of 15 years for perjury, 10 years for misconduct in public office and one year for each of the other three offences.
The OPI has also finished briefs of evidence against Police Association secretary Paul Mullett and former Victoria Police media director Steve Linnell.
It has handed the briefs, which contain new evidence not aired during last year's OPI hearings, to the Office of Public Prosecutions.
Mr Ashby said last night if he were charged he would vigorously defend himself.
He said that if there was new evidence against him then he had not been made aware of it. "I'm confident I can prove my innocence," he said.
Mr Linnell is facing the same possible charges as Mr Ashby.
The OPI briefs of evidence against Sen-Sgt Mullett relate to possible charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice, perjury, counselling and procuring a breach of the OPI confidentiality obligations and attempting to mislead the OPI director.
If charged and convicted, Sen-Sgt Mullett would face a maximum jail term of 25 years for attempting to pervert the course of justice, 15 years for perjury and one year for each of the other two offences.
Mr Ashby prematurely retired from Victoria Police immediately after last year's appearance before the OPI.
Mr Linnell resigned from Victoria Police in November last year after tapes of secretly recorded conversations between him and Mr Ashby were played at the OPI hearings.
He admitted during the explosive OPI hearings that he revealed the names of suspects in the 2003 murder of gigolo vampire Shane Chartres-Abbott to Mr Ashby.
One of those suspects was serving Victoria Police officer and Police Association delegate Det Sgt Peter Lalor. Another was ex-Victoria Police Det Sgt David "Docket" Waters. Neither of them has been charged over the murder.
Counsel assisting the OPI, Dr Greg Lyon, SC, claimed during last year's OPI hearings that Mr Ashby passed information to Sen-Sgt Mullett that led Sen-Sgt Mullett to the conclusion that Det Sgt Lalor's telephone was being intercepted.
Dr Lyon alleged Sen-Sgt Mullett then asked Police Association president Brian Rix to tip off Det Sgt Lalor.
Mr Ashby, Sen-Sgt Mullett and Insp Rix denied passing on the names of the Chartres-Abbott murder suspects. No criminal charges have been recommended for Insp Rix.
Source:
Former Noel Ashby colleagues provide information
By Keith Moor
Herald Sun
April 18, 2008
Criminal admits lying about Moran shooting
(Herald Sun)
April 18, 2008
A career criminal has denied he was the one who pulled the trigger on Lewis Moran - despite saying he was the shooter in a video-recorded re-enactment.
And he has admitted lying to police when he told them he could guarantee Carl Williams was not involved in the murder.
The criminal, who cannot be named, has told a Supreme Court jury he accepted a $150,000 contract from Williams and Tony Mokbel to execute Moran.
He says he was the getaway driver, taking two gunmen to the Brunswick Club to murder Moran, 58, in March 2004.
The court heard Williams last year pleaded guilty to counselling and procuring the murder of Moran.
Evangelos Goussis, 40, is on trial accused of chasing and executing Moran while a second shooter guarded the door.
Mr Goussis has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Moran and the attempted murder of Moran's mate, Bert Wrout.
Defence counsel Stephen Shirrefs, SC, asked the criminal who implicated Mr Goussis whether he was in fact the person who shot Moran.
"No, I wasn't," he said.
Mr Shirrefs suggested to the man that Mr Goussis was not involved in Moran's murder.
"Not so," the criminal said.
The criminal also said he did not implicate someone else to receive a reduced sentence.
"I didn't care about a discount, Mr Shirrefs. I still don't," he said.
The criminal told the jury on Thursday that he had lied in the videotaped interview in which he said he had fired the gun at Moran.
The trial before Justice Betty King continues
Crimnal wanted to help wife
(Herald Sun)
April 17, 2008
A career criminal told police that part of his motivation for helping to kill Lewis Moran stemmed from a fallout dating back to the murder of Alphonse Gangitano, a jury has heard.
The criminal, who cannot be identified, today described Gangitano as a gentleman.
While he said that he would not dispute telling police that the fallout was part of his motive, it was not true.
The fallout was not with Lewis Moran, but was with his son Jason, the criminal said.
The criminal told the court that he confessed to being involved in Lewis Moran's murder on the day that the Australian Crime Commission questioned his wife.
He said he wanted to "get my wife out of that situation".
He earlier told the jury: "I was trying to -- not take the heat off my wife, but ease the pressure on my wife."
The criminal allegedly drove two gunmen to the Brunswick Club to murder Lewis Moran, 58, in March 2004.
Evangelos Goussis, 40, is accused of chasing and executing Moran while a second shooter guarded the doorway.
Mr Goussis has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Moran and the attempted murder of Bert Wrout, who was wounded by the second gunman.
The criminal told the jury this week that he was convinced Moran was trying to have him killed.
He has admitted accepting a $150,000 contract from Tony Mokbel and Carl Williams to execute Moran.
He said that when Moran told him to "f--- off " in a brief telephone conversation, Moran's fate was sealed.
"They were the offending words, they were the alerting words, they were the words that made me aware that there was a problem," the criminal said.
He said the conversation, combined with other knowledge he had, was enough to convince him that there was a contract on his life.
The criminal today admitted creating a fictitious story for Purana Taskforce detectives after telling them he wanted to co-operate over the murder.
During the conversation, he said he had no direct involvement in Moran's murder, but the part he played was to dispose of clothes and pick up money.
During a video re-enactment a day later, he said he was Moran's killer.
"I was telling lies in that interview," the criminal told the jury.
"There's no truth in it, none at all."
Defence counsel Stephen Shirrefs, SC, suggested the criminal told lies to convince police that he was not the shooter.
"If that was the case, Mr Shirrefs, I wouldn't have confessed in the first place," the criminal said.
The trial before Justice Betty King was to continue.
Milad Mokbel pleads guilty
(Herald Sun)
April 16, 2008
The brother of Tony Mokbel has admitted trafficking drugs and stashing more than $450,000 in cash and jewellery earned through illicit trade.
Milad Mokbel, 40, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to trafficking and attempting to traffick large commercial quantities of methylamphetamine and of knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Police allege Mokbel, of Brunswick, was involved in manufacture and distribution of speed in April 2006.
They intercepted a delivery of amphetamines to Mokbel's Brunswick house and found $116,255 in cash.
An earlier court hearing heard the laundry at the $1.2 million home was set up for drug processing.
The house was at the centre of Tony Mokbel's $1 million bail surety fiasco, which saw sister-in-law Renate jailed for two years for failing to pay when he fled Australia.
A tip off in September 2006 led police to a property in Parkdale belonging to Renate Mokbel's uncle, where they found large amounts of cash inside buried plastic pipes, 18 watches and 33 boxes of jewellery.
Mokbel will reappear at a later date.
Driver denies murder set-up
(The Age)
April 16, 2008
A career criminal denied setting up a former close friend to get a discounted sentence for the murder of Lewis Moran.
The criminal, who cannot be identified, nominated himself as the driver of the getaway car when Moran was murdered at the Brunswick Club on March 31, 2004.
In a Supreme Court murder trial, he saidLewis Moran had admitted killing Mr Moran.
The criminal, a serving prisoner, said Goussis told him after the murder that he had shot Mr Moran twice following a chase in the club.
He said he learned later that clothes allegedly worn by Goussis and a third man involved in the contract killing were burnt, and three guns taken to the club were either thrown into the ocean or disposed of after being dismantled.
Cross-examined by defence counsel Stephen Shirrefs, SC, the witness admitted to previous criminal offences, including manslaughter, malicious wounding, armed robbery, burglary and dishonesty crimes.
He agreed that he had spent most of his adult life in prison. He had also spent time in hospital for mental health problems.
He agreed with Mr Shirrefs that he had told lies, but denied he had set others up to take the "fall" for him.
When asked if he had lied that Goussis was involved in the Moran murder to get himself a discounted sentence, he replied: "No, I haven't'.
The criminal was giving evidence at the trial of Goussis, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Moran. He has also pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Bert Wrout, who was shot by a second gunman at the Brunswick Club on March 31.
The "driver" has told the jurors and Justice Betty King that he accepted the contract to kill Mr Moran after it was suggested — and seemingly confirmed — that there was bad blood between the two men.
He said he drove the getaway car, and Goussis and the third man, armed and wearing balaclavas, went into the club.
Today, he said that underworld figure Tony Mokbel left the three killers $10,000 short from their expected $150,000 payout for murdering Mr Moran.
He said Goussis and the third man took $50,000 each, and he took $40,000.
The trial continues.
Moran ran for his life after misfire
(Herald Sun)
April 16, 2008
Lewis Moran ran for his life when the shotgun that was meant to kill him misfired, a witness hired for the alleged hit told the court today.
According to a witness, also hired to kill Moran, the shotgun malfunction forced the accused gunman to resort to a .357Magnum tucked in his pants.
The man, who can't be named, was giving evidence in the Victorian Supreme Court against his associate Evangelos Goussis, who is alleged to have shot Mr Moran in the bar of the Brunswick Club in Melbourne's inner north on March 31, 2004.
"The shotgun misfired so he shot Moran with the handgun twice," the man said.
"Moran had taken off and Ange had to run after him.
"I was told he shot (Moran) a couple of times and it was described to me that someone else may have been shot.
"There was no plan to shoot another patron; I couldn't understand what happened there."
The man, who said he acted as the getaway driver for Goussis and another man, said the weapons, which also included a 9mm Beretta, were tossed off the St Helen's Pier in Geelong after the gangland murder.
The witness said he carried out the contract murder for $150,000 which was paid for by convicted gangsters Carl Williams and Tony Mokbel.
When he collected the cash from Mokbel a few days later in a meeting in a car park behind a Brunswick hotel, he said Mokbel asked him if he would carry out more shootings for him.
"I was really a bit insulted by that," the man said.
"I was not involved in the so-called gangland war and told him there were more reasons for me to kill someone rather than just mere money."
He said when he and Goussis were counting the money, which was to be split three ways, they found they had been short-changed by $10,000.
He rang Williams who indicated that he would make good the full amount.
"I wasn't worried about the $10,000 but I made Carl Williams aware they were $10,000 short," the man said.
"He indicated that he would fix it."
The trial before Justice Betty King is continuing.
Man admits $150,000 deal to kill Lewis Moran
(Herald Sun)
April 16, 2008
A criminal who helped kill Lewis Moran was insulted when underworld figure Tony Mokbel offered him more "work" after the killing, a jury heard.
He has admitted accepting a $150,000 contract from Mokbel and Carl Williams to execute Moran.
The Supreme Court jury heard he had committed many violent crimes and was once in a rival faction to standover man Mark "Chopper" Read, but he denied being in an organised gang.
"That's a bit of Chopper Read fiction," he said.
The criminal denied he set up others to take the fall after committing crimes.
He claims he planned Moran's murder with Evangelos Goussis and another man and they did a dummy run past the Brunswick Club before carrying out the killing.
Mr Goussis has pleaded not guilty to murder.
The criminal told the jury he drove Mr Goussis and the other man to the club and waited for them while they donned balaclavas and ran into the club with guns.
The court heard he later went with Mr Goussis to collect their fee from Mokbel, who asked if he was interested in "other propositions".
"I was a little bit insulted by that," the criminal said.
"I was not involved in the so-called gangland war and I told Tony that there had to be more reasons for me to kill somebody than mere money -- not to take it that I'm involved in this war in any way, shape or form."
The pair didn't realise until they got back home that the payment was $10,000 short, the man said.
But defence counsel Stephen Shirrefs, SC, yesterday said the witness had spent half his adult life in jail and was a perjurer who would lie under oath to suit his purpose.
"You are a person, I suggest, who would set other people up to take the fall for you -- you have lied in saying my client Evangelos Goussis was involved in the murder of Lewis Moran," Mr Shirrefs said.
The man was played a CCTV tape of Moran's murder, which showed a balaclava-clad gunman bursting into the club waving a shot gun.
The gunman chased Moran before killing him.
"The shotgun misfired so (Mr Goussis) shot Moran with the handgun twice," the man told the Victorian Supreme Court via videolink.
The trial before Justice Betty King is continuing.
Speed charges for alleged Mokbel man
April 16, 2008
An alleged associate of drug dealer Tony Mokbel briefly appeared in court charged with trafficking and manufacturing large quantities of amphetamines.
Zlate Cvetanovski, 41, of Avondale Heights is also charged with possessing more than $70,000 in alleged crime proceeds.
Cvetanovski, was remanded to reappear in Melbourne Magistrates' Court in July.
Source:
Speed charges for alleged Mokbel man
Herald Sun
April 17, 2008
Alleged Mokbel man arrested at airport
April 15, 2008
An alleged associate of convicted drug trafficker Tony Mokbel has appeared in an out-of-sessions court in Melbourne, on drugs charges.
A 41-year-old Avondale Heights man, Zlate Cvetanovski - also known as Steve - was arrested by Purana Taskforce detectives at Melbourne airport this afternoon.
He was charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of methamphetamines and possessing $72,000, believed to be the proceeds of crime.
Police told the court a protected witness who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave detailed accounts of the running of two clandestine drug laboratories at Preston and Strathmore, with the help of Cvetanovski.
Police allege the unnamed witness was the main manufacturer of methamphetamines for the Mokbel syndicate.
Cvetanovski was deemed an unacceptable risk and refused bail.
He will face the Melbourne Magistrates Court tomorrow.
Sources:
Mokbel associate charged and held
By Paul Anderson
Daily Telegraph
April 15, 2008
Crime
Books:
Mokbel will touch down to a simple dilemma: rat or rot
