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Carl Williams rejects Islam (Herald Sun)
May 31, 2007  

Gatto nephew in brawl (The Age)
May 31, 2007

Mick Gatto tribute to QC (Herald Sun)
May 29, 2007

The Victorian Bar Council is holding a wake for the 18-year veteran of the bar on June 7 at the MCG's Frank Grey Smith room from 6pm.

Prison gun smuggler jailed (Herald Sun)
May 29, 2007

A prison employee smuggled a loaded gun into a jail in an alleged plot to kill mobster Lewis Moran, a court has heard.

The gun was found in the cell of a convicted kidnapper in 2003.

The prison worker allegedly handed a package containing the gun to the kidnapper in the presence of a road-rage killer who was a close associate of gangland murderer Carl Williams.

Crime patriarch Lewis Moran, 58, was slain the following year at the Brunswick Club. Williams, 36, was jailed this month for organising Moran's murder.

The County Court heard that several people could be charged over a conspiracy to kill Moran while he was in custody.

A former Port Phillip Prison employee who smuggled the gun into the prison has been jailed for at least two years. A judge said the man was motivated by the "lure of easy money".

The court heard that the former prison employee also moved drugs, including methamphetamine, ecstasy and cannabis, into the prison system for several prisoners between January 2000 and July 2006. He received $500 to $1000 each time.

In 2003, the man was paid $2000 to smuggle two packages -- one containing the loaded gun -- into jail. He did so at the request of a gangland figure, the court heard.

He later told police that he had believed the prisoner he gave it to needed a gun for his own protection.

But police investigations found that the real purpose for the gun was allegedly to kill Moran, the court heard. "It is not suggested, in your case, by the Crown that you were aware of that conspiracy or you were a party to that conspiracy," the judge told the man.

The man's barrister argued that he was not certain he had even taken a loaded gun into jail in what was "wilful blindness rather than actual knowledge".

But the judge said he was satisfied that the man was told he was taking a gun into the prison.

The prison employee was told "some idiot wants a gun in there", the court heard.

He later told police the convicted kidnapper was in fear of his life "and basically wanted to scare anyone who came near him or attacked him".

The judge said the man was in a position of trust and had used his knowledge of security measures to avoid detection.

"You took a gun into a prison knowing the danger this placed other persons in, whether they be prisoners, employees or prison officers," the judge said.

The judge said he was satisfied that the prison worker had taken the gun behind bars for financial reward.

"What is clear is that a message must be sent to the community that such criminal offences will not be tolerated by the courts," the judge said.

The employee did not care what drugs he took into the prison provided he was paid for his services, the judge said.

He said the man, who pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in drugs of dependence, including methamphetamine, ecstasy and cannabis, possession of a general category handgun and possession of cannabis, had good prospects of rehabilitation.

He was jailed for four years with a minimum of two.

Mokbel survives Lebanon shoot-out (Sunday Herald Sun)
May 27, 2007

Fugitive gangster Tony Mokbel survived a gun battle in Lebanon last week, an underworld source claims.

Mokbel court delay (Herald Sun)
May 23, 2007

MP warned over drug traffickers (The Age)
May 22, 2007
A senior Bracks Government MP, Telmo Languiller, is facing new questions over his history of giving character references for accused drug dealers.

Months after it was revealed that Mr Languiller had given evidence for a pair of ecstasy traffickers in 2001, The Age has learned that he gave testimony for a third accused dealer seven years earlier.

It has also emerged that Mr Languiller went ahead with his 2001 evidence despite being warned by police not to do so, and that the accused pair, Walter and Pablo Foletti, had already confessed to their crimes.

The revelations throw doubt on Mr Languiller's claims earlier this year that if he had known the Folettis were criminals, he "probably wouldn't have gotten involved".

They are also an embarrassment to Premier Steve Bracks, who defended Mr Languiller on the grounds that the references were given before the men were found guilty.

Mr Languiller is Mr Bracks' parliamentary secretary for Multicultural Affairs and holds the safe Labor seat of Derrimut, in Melbourne's outer west.

The investigation by The Age has revealed that a police officer approached him in 2001, advising him not to testify for the Folettis, who were facing charges of ecstasy trafficking.

Police sources say they were shocked that Mr Languiller went ahead and gave evidence for the men during a bail application.

Mr Languiller had known Walter Foletti since they were teenagers in Uruguay before migrating to Australia. Pablo Foletti was the nephew of Walter.

The MP told the court that both men had good reputations in the Uruguayan community and were good family men.

But Pablo Foletti was a well-known heroin user and already had two criminal convictions for drug trafficking, as well as convictions for drug possession and theft.

The Age has learned that a week before Mr Languiller supported their release, Walter and Pablo had confessed to involvement in massive ecstasy trafficking with gangster Carl Williams.

Walter was the principal target of Victoria Police's Operation Granger and, before his arrest in May 2001, was selling large amounts of cocaine and ecstasy in the western suburbs.

Six days before Mr Languiller's evidence, Walter's wife, Olivian, admitted that her husband sold drugs for Williams and she lived off the profits.

Mr Languiller sat next to her before he took the stand. She was later charged with trafficking.

The Age can also reveal that in 1994, Mr Languiller gave a reference for suspected Chilean drug courier Francisco Pozo, as a favour to Pozo's mother.

A co-accused in that case, Rene Mora, has alleged that Mr Languiller, then an adviser to deputy prime minister Brian Howe, did not know Pozo, who was accused of smuggling almost $300,000 worth of cocaine into Australia.

Williams witness dead (The Age)
May 19, 2007
A star police witness who was prepared to testify against convicted gangland killer Carl Williams has been found dead in bed by his mother.

The man, who was living under an alias in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, was the first of Williams' gang who was prepared to turn against him.

He was arrested with three others in 2004 and charged with conspiracy to murder former lawyer and gangland identity Mario Condello.

Soon after, he agreed to plead guilty and give evidence against Williams.

He was give a three-year suspended sentence.

Williams' former ally, 32, returned to live with his mother in Melbourne's east.

Although he was given a new name, police knew he could have been easily found by Williams if he had wished to kill him.

Police urged him to move and start a new life, but he told them he was determined to stay in the area where he lived but maintain a low profile.

It is believed he sought and received assurances from a relative of Williams that there would be no payback.

The witness, who still cannot be named because of an existing court suppression order, returned to playing suburban football under his new name but began to battle drug addiction.

He was found dead in his home by his mother on Thursday of a suspected drug overdose.

Police say there were no suspicious circumstances.

Williams was sentenced to 35 years' jail earlier this month after he pleaded guilty to the murders of Jason Moran, Lewis Moran and Mark Mallia and conspiracy to murder Condello. He agreed to plead guilty when faced with the testimony of four members of his gang, including the man who died on Thursday.

On the day the police witness died, Williams lodged an appeal against the severity of his sentence.

Detectives irked by Hodson taskforce (The Age)
May 18, 2007
Senior homicide detectives have expressed anger that a taskforce has been set up to solve the murders of criminal-turned-corruption-informer Terence Hodson and his wife Christine, claiming such resources could help them solve the deaths of several law-abiding citizens.

Sources have told The Age that while they hoped the Hodsons' murderer was eventually caught, requests for extra staff to help with several homicide investigations had been denied, leaving many cases unsolved.

"It's amazing how they have thrown all these resources into a taskforce because it's a high-profile case, yet when we ask for a few extra officers to help us gather more information, they tell us there's no one available," one detective said.

"If we had a taskforce set up to investigate these murders, many which have involved people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or were killed for reasons we don't yet know, I'm sure they, too, could be solved a lot sooner."

The Hodsons were shot, execution-style, in their Kew home three years ago this week.

It was six months after he agreed to give evidence against detectives Paul Dale and David Miechel about the trio's attempted theft of $1.3 million of ecstasy pills.

Miechel was convicted and jailed last year. After Hodson was killed, trafficking charges against Dale were dropped.

Confidential police reports identifying Hodson as an informer were stolen from the drug squad and leaked to members of Melbourne's underworld in the weeks before he and his wife were killed.

Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland confirmed this week that a taskforce of senior homicide and corruption investigators were retracing the steps of the original homicide investigation in the hope of finding the couple's killer.

He described the case as a "priority investigation" and said the taskforce was set up after police received new leads.

But another homicide investigator said: "Regardless of whether we get any new information or not on the cases we're working on, we have to work with what we've got rather than have a taskforce set up to help us get the job done.

"It surprises me that just because something new has come up that relates to this case, they've pulled out all the shots."

Mr Overland said the Hodsons' murder remained a concern for Victoria Police "given the connection it has, and we believe it is appropriate to form a taskforce to focus our investigation".

Zarah fights (Herald Sun)
May 13, 2007
A Judge has reserved his decision on underworld solicitor Zarah Garde-Wilson's battle to keep practising law.

Ms Garde-Wilson, 28, is fighting a Legal Services Board ruling that she is not a fit and proper person to hold a licence to practise law.

Her challenge was played out in the Supreme Court yesterday, with her lawyer arguing the board did not have the legal power to reject her application for re-licensing.

The Legal Services Board suspended her licence last December. Gerard Nash, QC, counsel for Ms Garde-Wilson, told the court yesterday that the board's 60-day time period had expired by the time it made its determination.

Mr Nash said Ms Garde-Wilson, 28, had applied to renew her practising certificate last May.

"It was not dealt with by July. The right to determine it ceased," Mr Nash said.

Ms Garde-Wilson, who runs her own city firm, was allowed to continue practising until June 30, the court heard.

Ms Garde-Wilson's former partner, convicted killer Lewis Caine, was murdered in May 2004.

She was convicted of contempt of court after refusing to give evidence against two men who were later found guilty of murdering Caine.

She said her refusal to give evidence was based on her fear of retribution.

Justice Kevin Bell reserved his decision until a date to be fixed.

Roberta 'to lose house' (Sunday Herald Sun)
May 13, 2007
Roberta Williams is facing homelessness, with legal action under way to sell her family house from under her.

The former wife of serial killer Carl Williams is being pursued by the State Government over a spiralling proceeds of crime debt.

While Ms Williams faces the County Court civil case, her ex-husband's new friend, Renata Laureano, has been spotted with a mystery baby.

Ms Laureano was seen shopping in Melbourne's north carrying the child in a BabyBjorn.

Her relatives would not reveal who the child was yesterday.

The 21-year-old, recognised for her fashion sense when supporting Williams at court, wore far more casual clothes for her shopping trip.

With her hair in a bun, she stepped out in green cargo pants, a grey midriff top and thongs.

The women in Williams' life clashed again on Monday -- when the killer was jailed until at least 2042 -- with Ms Williams abusing Ms Laureano.

Ms Williams recently revealed her dislike for the younger woman: "This Renata, she can smirk as she desires, I get the last laugh because it (their relationship) is (conducted) behind a piece of glass."

The Justice Department confirmed this week a legal suit had been launched in a bid to force the sale of the $500,000 Essendon home Ms Williams co-owns with George and Barbara Williams -- her ex-husband's parents.

Ms Williams was ordered to pay $142,000 to the Assets Confiscation Office in March last year when she was convicted of two charges relating to lying on home loan applications.

Ms Williams said recently she had been financially and emotionally "destroyed" and now battled to feed her children.

"I live on a Centrelink benefit," she said, "Some weeks we have no food."

Ms Williams received a 15-month suspended sentence and the financial penalty.

The Victorian Government's case against Ms Williams has been adjourned until next month.

'Fat Tony' had four in the nest (Herald Sun)
May 13, 2007
Tony Mokbel juggled four women in three Melbourne love-nests before fleeing overseas, a private eye who tailed him for months has revealed.

Two of the drug trafficker and accused murderer's bevy of women separately hired the same private detective agency to discover if he was cheating on them.

Covert agents watched "Fat Tony" regularly fly out of Essendon Airport on private Lear jets and light aircraft before he abruptly vanished during his cocaine trafficking trial.

A veteran agent told how Mokbel spent his last days in Melbourne indulging his passion for good living, women and Italian food.

The criminal Casanova romanced the four women at his bases in Southbank, Carlton and South Yarra and at tucked-away cafes.

His last Australian bolt-hole was a $1 million-plus Southbank penthouse and he dined expensively in a nearby restaurant, aptly named Sopranos.

The man with a $1 million price on his head exercised daily in the apartment block's gym and jogged around the Tan in designer track-suits.

Mokbel's harem included live-in lover and convicted drug dealer Danielle McGuire, convicted lawyer Zarah Garde Wilson and two other women.

He also has an estranged wife, Carmel.

McGuire and another woman who had a stake in his illicit drugs empire each had the pint-sized criminal tailed.

The jealous lovers joined law enforcement agencies keeping a close eye on the drug dealer, who would insist to each of his women that he was faithful to them.

When evidence of his infidelities emerged he would proceed to woo them back.

When McGuire learned of Mokbel's liaisons with Garde Wilson, she "went ape shit" at the love rival, the agent says.

She violently confronted the well-known lawyer on a number of occasions.

The two women had more in common than being susceptible to the charms of the short bald man.

Both had former lovers who were killed in Melbourne's deadly gangland wars.

The private detective told the Sunday Herald Sun Mokbel spent most of his time on bail indoors to avoid surveillance and enemies with grudges.

Typical evenings were spent with female company at his city love nests ordering in champagne, cigars and one of Mokbel's favourite meals - fettucine bolognese.

"He is smooth," the private investigator said.

"We did get threats, but mostly he just wanted to avoid exposure."

Mokbel would try to shake police and private surveillance in high speed pursuits along city freeways.

He was seen four times taking moonlight charter flights out of Essendon Airport.

It was possible Mokbel was learning to fly in readiness for an elaborate international getaway, the agent said.

When dining in public, Mokbel often surrounded himself with an entourage of minders that filled two cars.

McGuire and Mokbel were together shortly before he disappeared in March last year.

She flew out of Melbourne four months later, declaring her undying love for him.

Police had hoped she would lead them straight to the fugitive gangster.

But the canny blonde gave Italian police the slip in Rome and is widely suspected of having reunited with Mokbel.

The detective said Garde Wilson was a "hopeless romantic" who was shattered when Mokbel disappeared.

McGuire, on the other hand, was an intense and hyper-jealous personality.

Mokbel left his waterfront apartment at Beacon Cove in favour of a four-bedroom penthouse in Southpoint Concierge Apartments in Kavanagh St, Southbank.

The penthouse has 180-degree views from Port Phillip Bay to the city and is fitted with a chef's kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite finishes -- but the crime boss chose to eat out.

Mokbel, McGuire and her daughter were regulars at nearby Sopranos in City Rd, which also services guests and residents in the apartment building.

Coincidentally, the bar and bistro is popular with police detectives and criminal lawyers.

Sopranos manager Frank Sarkis said: "He came for breakfast, lunch and dinner and his favourite meal was medium-rare eye fillet steak topped with prawns and smoked salmon -- about $50."

Sopranos often sent platters of pasta and pizza to Mokbel's penthouse, he said.

"My staff described it (Mokbel's penthouse) as something so beautiful they had only seen anything like it in movies," Mr Sarkis said. "And money was no object.

He'd regularly spend $200 a night on pizza and pasta.

"The staff cried (when Mokbel absconded) -- he was a big tipper, $100 bills."

Mokbel didn't smoke or drink alcohol, but enjoyed soft drinks and mineral water.

Many Sopranos customers recognised the man who is now a fugitive.

"They adored the prestige cars Tony parked out the front -- there were a variety of them," Mr Sarkis said.

Sopranos was named after the US TV series about mobster Tony Soprano and his family.

Unlike the small-screen character, nobody at the Southbank eatery called Mokbel "Big Tony".

"We were always polite and said, 'Welcome, Tony'," Mr Sarkis said.

Detectives believe that Mokbel kept any getaway plan well hidden.

Those who monitored him early last year said he showed little or no sign he would, or could, soon vanish into thin air.

Police have investigated the possibility Mokbel bought an escape plan devised and set up by Lewis Moran -- a fellow mobster, who Mokbel is accused of killing.

Mokbel has been rumoured to be in various countries -- Turkey, Lebanon, Mexico, Columbia and the United Arab Emirates.

But, wherever he is, the private detective is sure of one thing: Jealous girlfriend McGuire "will be doing his head in".

Gatto not ruled out for Condello hit: Police (Herald Sun)
May 12, 2007

Former boxer Mick Gatto has hit out at claims he was behind the gangland slaying of his right-hand man, Mario Condello.

The underworld figure's angry denial comes as the Herald Sun reveals for the first time a letter Mr Gatto wrote to Condello from his prison cell just hours after shooting dead hitman Andrew "Benji" Veniamin.

Police sources recently told the Herald Sun Mr Gatto had not been ruled out as being behind the shooting murder of the former solicitor in February last year.

But Carlton Crew identity Mr Gatto, who spoke at his long-time friend's funeral, said the idea that he could be a suspect in the death was ridiculous.

"It is complete and utter rubbish. I loved the bloke," Mr Gatto said.

"I wish they would just leave me alone."

Condello, 53, was shot outside his Brighton home on the eve of his Supreme Court trial for plotting to murder rival and crime boss Carl Williams.

It was the last of the series of underworld executions that shocked Melbourne and claimed 28 lives.

Mr Gatto has admitted he was responsible for one of those killings – that of Veniamin, 28, at the La Porcella restaurant in Carlton on March 23, 2004.

He was cleared of murder by a jury, who accepted his evidence that he was acting in self-defence when he killed his one-time friend.

A rare peek inside Mr Gatto's world in the hours after he shot a man dead can now be revealed in a three-page letter the former boxing champ penned to Condello from his cell at Port Phillip Prison's high-security Charlotte Unit.

"I tell you what Mario, it's changed a lot since the days of old," he writes of his treatment in jail after being arrested.

"I have to be honest, they treat you with the greatest of respect. I feel a bit like Hannibal Lecter."

Mr Gatto asks Condello to look after his personal affairs while he is behind bars and take care of his family.

"I am good as gold Mario, I can't believe what has happened to me the last couple of days, but so be it.

"I can't believe for a bloke that prides himself on not getting involved in all the bullshit, I can't believe how trouble finds me."

Mr Gatto told police immediately after the shooting that he was forced to shoot Veniamin when the younger man pulled a gun on him – a story he stuck to in his letter to Condello.

"I can't believe that little maggot tried to kill me, anyway he is in his place," Mr Gatto wrote.

"Mario give the old bloke my regards and all our team – tell them I am going alright and I will be in touch in the near future.

"Keep your eyes wide opened, you can't trust any of these rats. I would hate to see anything happen to any of ours."

No charges have been laid over the Condello murder. One theory being investigated is that Condello may have been eliminated by his own Carlton Crew associates.

Detectives have sought to question the brother of fugitive crime boss Tony Mokbel over the alternative theory that rival gangland bosses were behind the killing.

They have been refused permission by a magistrate.

Mr Gatto was in Brunswick at the time of Condello's death.

In a death notice headed "Mates forever", Mr Gatto spoke of Condello as the sort of friend who comes along once in a lifetime.

"You were a man with outstanding principles and were as loyal as a hundred men," Mr Gatto wrote.

Condello, a father of three, was also godfather to one of Mr Gatto's sons.

Debs guilty of teen murder (Herald Sun)
May 11, 2007

Convicted police killer Bandali Michael Debs has again been found guilty of murder.

Wearing a grey suit and mustard-coloured shirt and tie, Debs, 53, showed no reaction when a Supreme Court jury delivered its verdict.

The jurors returned their decision after deliberating for about four hours.

When asked if Debs was found guilty or not guilty of murdering teenager Kristy Mary Harty, the jury forewoman replied: "We find Mr Debs guilty."

Justice Stephen Kaye thanked the jurors for their efforts. He then adjourned pre-sentence submissions until June 8.

Debs is serving a life sentence, with no minimum jail term, for the murders of Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller on August 16, 1998. His co-accused in that case, Jason Joseph Roberts, 26, was jailed for life, with a 35-year non-parole period.

Debs, formerly of Narre Warren, had pleaded not guilty to murdering 18-year-old Ms Harty, whose body was found in undergrowth at Upper Beaconsfield in June 1997. She had been shot in the back of the head.

Prosecutor Andrew Tinney said in opening the trial that Ms Harty had been offering sex for money to male drivers along the Princes Highway at Dandenong. He said DNA comparison of semen found in her body showed there was a one in 370 billion chance that it came from someone other than Mr Debs.

A handgun and ammunition found at the New South Wales house of Debs' mother was of the same type as that used in Ms Harty's murder, he said.

Senior defence counsel Chris Dane, QC, had said that even if the jury accepted the prosecution's DNA case, there was nothing linking Mr Debs to Ms Harty within 24 hours of her death.

Outside court, Mary Hamilton, a relative of Ms Harty, said she was a beautiful girl, "just like anyone else's 18-year-old daughter".

"She was just an average kid, very naive, and this was not what was meant to happen to her," Ms Hamilton said.

When asked to describe Debs, she replied: "Just, obviously, cruel, nasty, horrible man with no morals at all.

"I hope he meets with an unforseen ending in jail," she added.

Hafner denies Mokbel house paid debt (Herald Sun)
May 10, 2007

A childhood friend of Tony Mokbel denies transferring his grandparents' former home to the fugitive drug lord to satisfy a $360,000 debt.

Darren John Hafner was in the County Court yesterday battling to keep the property in Virginia Court, Bulleen, from the state. 

Mr Hafner, of Westmeadows, claims he transferred the property -- a gift from his grandparents -- into Mokbel's name in mid-2001 to stop his estranged wife getting it.

Within months it was among many in Mokbel's name to be frozen by a court order. The court heard Mr Hafner learned in 2003 it had been restrained by the courts.

But Stephen O'Bryan, SC, representing the Director of Public Prosecutions, said that instead of acting in 2003 Mr Hafner "waits and waits and conveniently, when Mokbel disappears or can't be found, he puts his hand up".

Mr Hafner said Mokbel told him not to worry about the restraining order.

Mokbel fled Australia in March last year.

Yesterday, a deed signed in 2001 was tendered to the court stating Mr Hafner owed Mokbel $360,000 and that he'd agreed to transfer the property to Mokbel as repayment.

But Mr Hafner said he did not owe Mokbel any money.

"I had to sign it because I was putting the house in Tony's name," he said.

"If I didn't sign it, the property wouldn't have gone into his name."

He said he must not have read the deed properly and misunderstood the term
"indebted". Asked if he was making things up, Mr Hafner replied: "I think
that's a lie. How on earth would I owe someone $360,000?"

The court heard Mokbel paid about $17,000 in stamp duty.

Counsel for Mr Hafner, Colin Mandy, said apart from driving past the property once, Mokbel had no dealings with it. Mr Hafner, his mother, sister and grandmother continued to find tenants for the property, collect rent and pay rates after the transfer.

Mr Mandy said it should be excluded from the order on Mokbel's assets.

"There's no suggestion it's tainted . . . or it was acquired unlawfully."

According to Mr Hafner's affidavit, his agreement with Mokbel was only that he would hold the property for a short time.

He says he never received cash from Mokbel and there was no intention to transfer the property to Mokbel except in name.

The civil trial, before Judge Michael McInerney, continues.

Friends for life (The Bulletin)
May 10, 2007

Coroner's eyes on gangland (Herald Sun)
May 9, 2007

A major coronial inquest into Melbourne's gangland war could mark the final chapter in the long-running saga.

35 years for Carl (Herald Sun)
May 7, 2007

Gangland mass murderer Carl Williams will spend at least the next 35 years behind bars after receiving three life prison terms for the cold blooded murders of four underworld figures.

Gangland feud endures (Herald Sun)
May 6, 2007

Williams sentencing won't be filmed (AAP)
May 4, 2007

A judge has refused to allow the sentencing of underworld serial killer Carl Williams to be filmed.

Williams will be sentenced in the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday over the murders of Lewis Moran, his son Jason Moran and another gangland identity, Mark Mallia.

Several media organisations applied to have a television camera in the courtroom to film Justice Betty King delivering her sentence and for extracts to be used in news reports.

But Justice King said today while the court encouraged openness and transparency in its proceedings, she believed broadcasting extracts of a judge delivering a sentence would do little to further this.

She also said this could turn the spotlight on the judge rather than where it belonged, on the criminality involved and the sentence being imposed.

She said it would be a tragedy if the "cult of personality" was attached to the role of a judge.

Justin Quill, a lawyer representing several media organisations, previously told the court Williams' sentencing would represent the final chapter of one of the greatest law and order problems in Victoria.

He said the proper, detailed and thorough reporting of the sentence had the potential to increase the public's confidence in the judicial system.

Williams' barrister David Ross QC, opposed the application.

Renate back behind bars (Herald Sun)
May 3, 2007

The sister-in-law of fugitive drug lord Tony Mokbel will stay behind bars after losing a court fight to secure her release.

Renate Lisa Mokbel, 36, is serving two years' jail after failing to pay a $1 million surety she offered for the millionaire's bail.

The mother of three wanted to sell the family's $1.1 million Brunswick home, but it had been frozen upon the arrest of her husband Milad on drugs charges.

Ms Mokbel applied to the Supreme Court to vary the order allowing her to sell the property, pay the debt and secure her release.

Prosecutors argued the house was bought with the proceeds of crime and the freeze should remain until Milad Mokbel's charges were determined by a court.

A witness also gave evidence Ms Mokbel was aware of drug deals being made by her husband.

Justice Kim Hargrave dismissed the application but said it was desirable that Milad Mokbel's trial take place soon.

Ms Mokbel has one avenue left for freedom.

She has appealed against the original court ruling forcing her to pay the money.

In that judgment, Justice Bill Gillard said Ms Mokbel had been dishonest about her finances when she swore an untrue affidavit that the Brunswick property was hers.

The court heard she never owned the house, which was instead held under a family trust run by her husband.

Tony Mokbel, who disappeared in March last year, was jailed in absentia for nine years on cocaine-trafficking charges.

"I'll outlive Carl," says sleepy Chopper
May 1, 2007

Criminal cult figure Mark "Chopper" Read spoke to the media outside court today and said that he would outlive underworld serial killer Carl Williams.

Read does not believe Williams, who today faced the third day of a Supreme Court plea hearing related to three gangland killings, will survive in prison because "he hasn't got enough jail smarts".

He said Williams would be a target in prison. "He'll be scared to death.

"He'll be on strict protection. He'll be frightened to death. He'll have to watch out for low-flying pocket knives."

Justice Betty King is deciding whether or not to impose a minimum sentence on Williams after he pleaded guilty to three of the murders he has pending.

Williams is already serving a jail term for the 2003 murder of hot dog vendor and suspected drug dealer Michael Marshall.

Chopper had just appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court and was fined $300 after pleading guilty to careless driving.

The infamous killer and standover man walked from court alongside his heavily tattooed minder,  Tony "The Face" Cronin and thanked his legal team for defending him while he dozed through the case.

"I'd like to thank the sterling work of my lawyer Bernie Balmer here, he did an excellent job," Read said.

"I was asleep through most of the proceedings, I didn't hear a word he said, but I know he said brilliant words on my behalf. He got me out of it, as always."

When asked why he struggled to stay awake, Read said: "Courtrooms always put me to sleep."

Read, whose violent life of crime inspired the hit movie Chopper, lamented the mundane nature of his latest offence.

"It's one of the less eventful ones, (it was) a waste of time them even taking me to court," he said. "It's rubbish, I bumped into some car and that's it."

The court heard Read, of Collingwood, was trying to park his black Ford ute in Clifton Hill on August 14 last year when his vehicle made contact with the front of a blue Peugeot.

When questioned by police, Read, 53, denied he had struck or damaged the car, saying: "There was no damage, there was no accident."

The owner of the car had told police the collision caused $1500 damage to the front of his car.

Mr Balmer said Read, who was working as a painter and public speaker, denied he had caused any damage to the car.

While his client had a chequered criminal history, he had maintained an unblemished driving record and should be treated leniently, he said.

"It's a wonderful day when you can arrive in court representing Mr Read and say there are no priors, your honour," Mr Balmer said.

"He says this is the first accident he's ever had."

Magistrate Catherine Lamble described the charge as minor. Read was convicted and fined $300.