Crime king Tony Mokbel's former Brunswick house sells again
The Downs Street, Brunswick house used as surety in Tony Mokbel's controversial 2004 bail, has been sold by its current owners.
Glenn Bartlett from Woodards Carlton took a pre-auction offer above the $1.1 million that was being sought well before the weekend's scheduled auction.
The double-storey house (pictured above) sits on 500 square metres, but unlike its portrayal on the Channel 9 mini-series Underbelly and Fat Tony & Co, is of modern dimensions not boom Italianiate.
The selling agent made almost cryptic menion of its status when they noted the "impressive size and scale are the hallmark of this imposing family home, made even more memorable for its role in Melbourne's contemporary history."
It has a 13 metre x 33 metre block next door (pictured below) currently used for pool and garden. They sold last for $850,000 and $550,000 in 2010.
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The vacant block went to auction but was passed in at weekend auction at $550,000.
The listing's timing with the Fat Tony & Co series was coincidental, according to Mr Bartlett.
Property Observer understands Mockel paid $200,000 in 1999 after paying $160,000 next door in 1996 for the larger home.
Ownership of the property was transferred to the Attorney-General of Victoria in late 2009, under the Confiscation Act 1997.
It was the site of a clandestine drug lab which was revealed after it caught fire and exploded. Crime writer John Silvester wrote that following its February 1997 fire, detectives ascertained the lab had produced 41 kilograms of pure methylamphetamine with a street value of $78 million.
He wrote that detectives believed the Downs Street lab helped Mokbel progress from a mid-level drug trafficker to the biggest in Australia over the 1990s.
While Mokbel was not arrested over the drug lab, his friend Paul Howden was badly burnt, charged and later sentenced to four years in jail.
The property was surety when securing his bail in 2004.
It emerged it to be part of a family trust, JR Mokbel Pty Ltd, an ownership structure which hampered efforts to sell the property after Tony Mokbel fled.
After his return from Greece, Mokbel was jailed for 30 years, with a minimum of 22 years, in 2012 over his international drug business. The judge described him as an "intelligent and a cunning person".
While on the run in Athens in 2007 ,Tony instructed his associates to look after his late mother, Lora, who was living in the family's Brunswick home.
Lora Mokbel raised her four sons after her husband Sajih's death in 1980 when Tony was 15. The family had migrated from Lebanon in 1974.
