young galloper called Pillar of Hercules, which was banned from racing then auctioned by order of the stewards as a way of guaranteeing it was not controlled by a silent partner in the Mokbel camp.
The colt, which had cost $475,000 as a yearling, was auctioned for $1.8 million just days before the 2007 Melbourne Cup carnival. This was a lucky break for one Irene Meletsis, a woman reputedly with little knowledge of racing, whose name had appeared in the racebook as three-quarter owner of the colt. In an embarrassing twist for the trainer, Peter Moody, police had taped telephone conversations of him discussing the purchase and naming of the colt with Horty Mokbel. It wasnât really Moodyâs business who paid the bills, as he pointed out.
In 2004, Tony Mokbel bragged he won nearly $400,000 on the Melbourne Cup and was seen punting heavily on Oaks Day two days later.
The public display infuriated senior police and racing officials to the extent that laws were changed to ban suspected crime figures from Crown Casino and Victorian racetracks. Mokbel was one of the first to be blacklisted.
The ACC investigation was not the first time racing figures were questioned over their alleged links to major crime figures.
Cassidy and fellow jockeys, Gavin Eades and Kevin Moses, were suspended in Sydney in 1995 for race tipping, after their conversations were recorded during a major Australian Federal Police drug investigation code-named Caribou.
And in 1981, several racing identities, including jockeys and callers, were recorded on illegal NSW police tapes giving inside information to notorious drug dealer, Robert âAussie Bobâ Trimbole.
They donât call them colourful racing identities for nothing.
WHILE the crime commission was busy on the racing side, Jim OâBrien continued the dual strategy of attacking Mokbelâs resource base while turning trusted insiders into prosecution witnesses.
If Tony had been in Australia, even in jail, he may have been able to control his team but, with him overseas, the fabric began to fray.
Police began to target Mokbelâs closest family and friends. They discovered the syndicate, code named âThe Companyâ, had set up seemingly legitimate industrial businesses to buy massive amounts of chemicals used to make perfume. They then redirected the precursor chemicals to be used in the production of amphetamines and ecstasy. While it was inconceivable that the massive amount of chemicals they bought could be used for a smallperfume production run, no one within the industry queried the purchases. For the Mokbels it was a licence to print money.
But slowly Purana put their hooks into the company.
In September 2006, they (literally) unearthed $350,000 in cash, eighteen watches, 61 items of jewellery and 33 jewellery boxes concealed in PVC pipes hidden on behalf of the Mokbel family in a Parkdale backyard.
They jailed Renate Mokbel, Tonyâs sister-in-law, after she failed to honour a $1 million surety she offered as part of Mokbelâs bail conditions.
The Brunswick property used as surety was seized. It was the place Mokbel had run a speed lab in 1997 and, after a fire, had been rebuilt. Some close to Mokbel became disillusioned that he remained free when Renate was jailed.
His brothers were also arrested and charged. Milad Mokbel was charged after police discovered an alleged drug factory near a primary school in a shop that was supposedly being fitted out as a juice bar. Horse-loving brother Horty was also arrested on drug-related charges. Sister-in-Law Zaharoula Mokbel was charged over an alleged $2.3 million fraud.
A Mokbel financial adviser was arrested and his luxury car seized. When he saw reporters, the adviser loudly advised that they should get âreal jobs.â He may have had many assets but a sense of irony was not one of them.
Police needed the time that Mokbel was in hiding to build their case. Nearly one year after Mokbel had jumped
The colt, which had cost $475,000 as a yearling, was auctioned for $1.8 million just days before the 2007 Melbourne Cup carnival. This was a lucky break for one Irene Meletsis, a woman reputedly with little knowledge of racing, whose name had appeared in the racebook as three-quarter owner of the colt. In an embarrassing twist for the trainer, Peter Moody, police had taped telephone conversations of him discussing the purchase and naming of the colt with Horty Mokbel. It wasnât really Moodyâs business who paid the bills, as he pointed out.
In 2004, Tony Mokbel bragged he won nearly $400,000 on the Melbourne Cup and was seen punting heavily on Oaks Day two days later.
The public display infuriated senior police and racing officials to the extent that laws were changed to ban suspected crime figures from Crown Casino and Victorian racetracks. Mokbel was one of the first to be blacklisted.
The ACC investigation was not the first time racing figures were questioned over their alleged links to major crime figures.
Cassidy and fellow jockeys, Gavin Eades and Kevin Moses, were suspended in Sydney in 1995 for race tipping, after their conversations were recorded during a major Australian Federal Police drug investigation code-named Caribou.
And in 1981, several racing identities, including jockeys and callers, were recorded on illegal NSW police tapes giving inside information to notorious drug dealer, Robert âAussie Bobâ Trimbole.
They donât call them colourful racing identities for nothing.
WHILE the crime commission was busy on the racing side, Jim OâBrien continued the dual strategy of attacking Mokbelâs resource base while turning trusted insiders into prosecution witnesses.
If Tony had been in Australia, even in jail, he may have been able to control his team but, with him overseas, the fabric began to fray.
Police began to target Mokbelâs closest family and friends. They discovered the syndicate, code named âThe Companyâ, had set up seemingly legitimate industrial businesses to buy massive amounts of chemicals used to make perfume. They then redirected the precursor chemicals to be used in the production of amphetamines and ecstasy. While it was inconceivable that the massive amount of chemicals they bought could be used for a smallperfume production run, no one within the industry queried the purchases. For the Mokbels it was a licence to print money.
But slowly Purana put their hooks into the company.
In September 2006, they (literally) unearthed $350,000 in cash, eighteen watches, 61 items of jewellery and 33 jewellery boxes concealed in PVC pipes hidden on behalf of the Mokbel family in a Parkdale backyard.
They jailed Renate Mokbel, Tonyâs sister-in-law, after she failed to honour a $1 million surety she offered as part of Mokbelâs bail conditions.
The Brunswick property used as surety was seized. It was the place Mokbel had run a speed lab in 1997 and, after a fire, had been rebuilt. Some close to Mokbel became disillusioned that he remained free when Renate was jailed.
His brothers were also arrested and charged. Milad Mokbel was charged after police discovered an alleged drug factory near a primary school in a shop that was supposedly being fitted out as a juice bar. Horse-loving brother Horty was also arrested on drug-related charges. Sister-in-Law Zaharoula Mokbel was charged over an alleged $2.3 million fraud.
A Mokbel financial adviser was arrested and his luxury car seized. When he saw reporters, the adviser loudly advised that they should get âreal jobs.â He may have had many assets but a sense of irony was not one of them.
Police needed the time that Mokbel was in hiding to build their case. Nearly one year after Mokbel had jumped
Similar Books
![Teacher's Pets [Unlikely Bedfellows 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)](https://fs.ageofbook.com/606511/thumbs/152x264/teachers-pets-unlikely-bedfellows-3-siren-publishing-menage-everlasting.png)
