Results 1 to 16 of 16
  1. #1
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204

    Melbourne Gangland Lawyer/Police Criminal Informant Scandal

    Worth a thread, just unbelievable. And not over yet.

    A gangland killer says his former lawyer Nicola Gobbo has more to fear from Victoria Police than the criminal underworld



    Barrister Nicola Gobbo represented criminals connected to Melbourne's gangland war while acting as an informer for Victoria Police.(ABC News: Greg Nelson)


    A convicted killer and former client of barrister turned informer Nicola Gobbo said many underworld players wish her harm but he's not one of them.




    Key points:


    • A former client of Nicola Gobbo says she should be more fearful of vengeful police officers than the criminal underworld
    • Ms Gobbo questions whether some prosecutors were told she was an informer
    • Former crown prosecutor Geoff Horgan says police did not tell prosecutors about Ms Gobbo's role

    Oliver*, a gangland killer who cannot be named, spoke exclusively to the ABC podcast Trace: The Informer.
    "There's enough blokes out there wishing her harm, they don't need to add me to the list," he said.
    He believes his former lawyer is right to be in fear for her life, after being exposed as an informer for Victoria Police while she represented big-name criminal clients.
    "I'm concerned about her, because a lot of blokes are doing a lot of bloody jail for her," he said.
    "Believe me, there's a lot of blokes who are filthy."
    Oliver served a jail term after killing a man during Melbourne's gangland war.
    He's the first gangland killer to ever speak publicly about the scandal, which involved Victoria Police enlisting barrister Nicola Gobbo to turn on big-name criminals.


    Nicola Gobbo represented Oliver after he was arrested in connection with a large quantity of marijuana.(Supplied)One former client has been freed from jail, one was released on bail pending appeal and seven more are appealing against their convictions over Ms Gobbo's conduct.
    The Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants (RCMPI) is investigating why and how Victoria Police signed up a criminal defence barrister.
    Gobbo says she would trust former client over police

    Oliver believes the greatest threat to Ms Gobbo is from Victoria Police rather than the underworld.
    PODCAST

    Who is Nicola Gobbo?

    Lawyer Nicola Gobbo represented some of Australia's most dangerous criminals, all the while secretly working as a police informer. Why did she do it and how was it allowed to happen?



    "She's got cops dirty on her, she's got crooks dirty on her," he said.
    "I'd be more worried about the cops doing something than the crooks because I believe heads are going to roll.
    "I believe people are going to get charged at the end of this [royal] commission and some major scalps. Now that means she'll have to testify."
    Ms Gobbo replied to Oliver's comments in a series of text messages to the ABC and said that today, she trusted Oliver more than the police, despite not being able to tell him the whole truth when she represented him.
    "He is in the category of 'violent dangerous criminals' who the imbeciles in VicPol maintain will do me harm or try and kill me but the reality is the precise opposite," she said.
    "He would happily guard my children and I with his life and is eminently more capable and trustworthy than the police are."


    Oliver, who still has his green prison clothing, described Ms Gobbo as trustworthy.(Supplied)Ms Gobbo represented Oliver when he was arrested over a large quantity of marijuana.
    He was charged alongside a number of allegedly corrupt Victorian police detectives.
    "She was a bloody good barrister … intelligent, very switched on and at the time, I thought trustworthy," Oliver said.
    "I felt comfortable with her. I was never on my guard with Nicola."
    'I used to defend Nicola when I was in jail'

    The RCMPI has heard Mr Gobbo was in a sexual relationship with one of the detectives who had been charged, at the same time as she represented Oliver.
    "I was shocked," Oliver said.
    "I used to defend Nicola, even in jail. I said, 'Shut your mouths, I like her, so if you're going to bag her, don't bag her in front of me, otherwise it's going to be on.'"


    Oliver said he would still help Ms Gobbo and her family if she asked him.(ABC News: Jean Edwards)Ms Gobbo's conflict of interest was intensified by the fact Oliver was being asked by anti-corruption investigators to give evidence against his co-accused, Ms Gobbo's lover.
    She denied to the RCMPI that she told her lover Oliver was being asked to give evidence against him.
    Oliver said he never intended to cooperate with anti-corruption police.
    "I was never going to give evidence," he said.
    The detectives charged alongside Oliver were eventually acquitted. Oliver pleaded guilty to the drugs charge and was later convicted over the gangland shooting.
    He was shocked to find out, years later, the lawyer he trusted was assisting Victoria Police.
    "This is what hurts as much as it does," he said.
    "She used to come to see me in the visit centre [in jail], kiss me on the cheek, 'Oh hi, how are you?'
    "Then to cop this, it's like the ultimate betrayal."
    Despite his former lawyer working with police, Oliver said he would still help her and her two children.
    "I would never let her down … if she needed something tomorrow, if she needed a house or she thought someone was watching her or she felt safer here with her children, I would still give it to her," he said.
    That's why it hurts so much, because I know what I would do for that lady."
    Former crown prosecutor reveals he had no idea of Gobbo's role with police

    The RCMPI has heard the threat to Ms Gobbo's life is of the highest-risk category.
    Her information has helped put some of her former clients behind bars, including those involved in one of the biggest ecstasy importations in Australian history.
    The RCMPI heard more than a thousand of Ms Gobbo's former clients or people she'd given advice to could be impacted by her role as an informer.
    Despite this, Ms Gobbo told the ABC some clients had contacted her since her informer status was revealed and had offered support.
    "[I] don't know how I did it, how I managed to obtain such good results for so many people during that period of time," she said.
    "There are many people. Some have contacted me and said, 'Thanks, you still did an amazing job for us.'"


    Geoff Horgon SC said police in Victoria were under enormous pressure to end gangland killings at the time Ms Gobbo was an informer.(ABC News: Peter Healy)Despite their crucial role in the criminal justice system, no prosecutors, magistrates or judges have appeared as witnesses before the RCMPI.
    They are exempt from being called to the royal commission, despite much speculation about who knew about Ms Gobbo's role as an informer, and when.
    Former special gangland crown prosecutor Geoff Horgan SC prosecuted most of the big gangland trials, including Carl Williams' cases.
    He also prosecuted the murder trial of Faruk Orman, the first former client of Ms Gobbo to be freed from jail because of a miscarriage of justice.
    Mr Horgan is the first senior prosecutor involved in cases affected by Ms Gobbo to speak publicly.
    "I had absolutely no idea that she was a police informer," Mr Horgan told the ABC.
    He worked closely with detectives investigating Melbourne's gangland killings and said they were under immense pressure to stop the murders.
    "I think police thought they had an urgent need to get information," Mr Horgan said.
    "I don't think they thought they were the custodians of her ethical problems or issues."


    Mr Horgan said he did not believe prosecutors were aware of Ms Gobbo's role as an informer.(ABC News: Peter Healy)Ms Gobbo questioned whether some of the prosecutors knew about her assistance to police.
    "A number of crown prosecutors and senior barristers and other lawyers who've since gone on to … be appointed as judges and, or magistrates, who I understand haven't been questioned or won't be giving evidence [to the royal commission]," she told the ABC.
    Mr Horgan categorically rejects Ms Gobbo's claims that prosecutors would have been told.
    He said police had no need to tell him about her role for his work in court.
    Another former crown prosecutor, Gavin Silbert, has told Trace: the Informer he believes the senior police who sanctioned the use of Ms Gobbo should face criminal charges.
    Mr Horgan disagrees, defending the police.
    "They were acting, as they saw it in my opinion, in the public interest," he said.
    On August 31, the RCMPI will publish submissions from its Counsel Assisting, which are expected to be about 2,000 pages long.
    The submissions may give an indication as to whether the royal commission will recommend criminal charges be laid against Victoria Police and/or Ms Gobbo.
    *Name has been changed for legal reasons.


    Posted 3hhours ago, updated 53mminutes ago

    https://www.xxx.xxx.xx/news/2020-08-11/gangland-killer-tells-what-it-was-like-represented-by-lawyer-x/12505750





    [/COLOR]

    Warning: Be cautious if you are a fragile pink

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456
    Here's hoping the crims get to her, and do a bit of streetcleaning.

  3. #3
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    41,562
    Yeah hopefully that she's murdered and her children left motherless... That'll learn her!

    What the actual fuck is wrong with you.

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456
    Her. She's a scumbag.

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    41,562
    The Plot - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > You.

  6. #6
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Here's one guy who has already been freed due to her involvement, earlier known as Lawyer X

    Faruk Orman released after gangland murder conviction quashed over Lawyer X scandal | Australia news | The Guardian

    Loads more lining up to get their convictions quashed.

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Police officer ‘intimidated’ after Lawyer X inquiry, court told

    A police officer had underworld figures do “walk-bys” of his home days after he gave evidence in Lawyer X royal commission.
    Frances Vinall

    NCA NewsWire
    AUGUST 21, 202011:31AM



    “Lawyer X” Nicola Gobbo is the subject of a Royal Commission investigating her informing on her underworld clients to Victoria Police.Source:News Limited

    A police officer who gave evidence in the Lawyer X royal commission had underworld figures do a “walk-by” of their home days later, a court has heard.
    The officer is now trying to have their name suppressed in the Victorian Court of Appeal after their first bid was rejected by the royal commission’s chairwoman Margaret McMurdo.
    Victoria Police lawyer Ian Freckelton QC told the court on Friday that underworld figures had carried out a potentially intimidating “walk-by” of the police officer’s home a few days after the officer gave evidence.
    Mr Freckleton said Ms McMurdo should have taken the “possibility” of danger into account if the officer’s name was released.
    He submitted Ms McMurdo had an “inappropriate focus” in that she was concerned “every current or former police officer” appearing in a royal commission would have grounds for a suppression order if one was granted.
    He said there was an “irrationality of the focus on other members making similar submissions.”
    But Royal Commission lawyer Chris Horan QC told the court that it was important the royal commission conducted its inquiry “in as open a matter as possible”.

    He said this was because of “the nature of the inquiry itself” which involves secrecy within Victoria Police.
    Judge Mark Weinberg asked Mr Freckelton if he accepted “the potential the commission could be stymied” if an order was made to suppress the name of a police officer because of the possibility of a threat.

    “There would be a very powerful incentive, would there not, for every police officer whose name might be dragged through the mud...to say, that applies to me as well?” Judge Weinberg asked.
    The court’s judgment will be delivered next week.

    The royal commission will deliver its final report into one of Victoria’s biggest legal scandals on November 30. It is investigating the saga of “Lawyer X” Nicola Gobbo, who represented some of Melbourne’s biggest criminals at the same time as she was providing information to police.

    Lawyer X: Police officer’s scare after royal commission



  8. #8
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Lawyer X cop to be named in ‘one of the greatest scandals of our time’

    A police officer sought to have their name suppressed in “what might prove to be one of the greatest scandals of our time” – but the court said no.


    A police officer’s attempt to have his name suppressed when giving evidence about “Lawyer X” Nicola Gobbo has been denied by the Victorian Court of Appeal.
    The officer gave evidence in the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants, which is investigating Victoria Police’s use of barrister Ms Gobbo as a “human source”.
    Ms Gobbo secretly informed on her own clients from Melbourne’s criminal underworld who had hired her to defend them in court.
    The discovery of her use in investigations – potentially breaching her clients’ legal privilege – could quash convictions and allow criminals behind bars in Victoria to walk free.
    Victoria Police lawyer Ian Freckelton QC previously told the court that the police officer had been subject to a “walk-by” of their house by underworld figures a few days after giving evidence.
    The officer had attempted to have their name suppressed in the royal commission’s final report and in submissions, to protect their safety and reputation, but was rejected.

    Nicola Gobbo as she appeared on the ABC’s current affairs program 7.30.Source:Supplied

    This was because of concerns “every current or former police officer” appearing before a royal commission would have grounds to have their name suppressed, Mr Freckelton said.
    He argued that focus of the decision was “inappropriate”.
    The officer took the case to the Court of Appeal – but on Wednesday justices Mark Weinberg, Stephen McLeish and David Beach agreed with the royal commission that the officer’s name should not be suppressed.
    In a written judgment, they said: “It is plain from her reasons that the Royal Commissioner considered the evidence about risk to (the police officer’s) safety … in coming to her decision.
    “It would not be surprising if there were a spate of additional officers who sought to take advantage of anonymisation pursuant to any such finding,” they said.
    They said it could be “destructive” for a royal commission investigating potential Victoria Police misconduct for officers to be anonymous, and the commission’s findings would be “far less potent” if the “alleged wrongdoers” were anonymous.
    “Moreover, the community as a whole would be disadvantaged through a lack of transparency in relation to what might prove to be one of the greatest scandals of our time in relation to the workings of the criminal justice system,” they said.

    Lawyer X: Cop to be named in ‘one of the greatest scandals of our time’


  9. #9
    RIP
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    16,939
    Sounds like a movie plot.

    The second best Melbourne gangster movie after Chopper.

  10. #10
    I Amn't In Jail PlanK's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Last Online
    Today @ 04:16 PM
    Location
    Tezza's Balcony
    Posts
    6,910
    Another series of Underbelly coming soon.

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Quote Originally Posted by Plan B View Post
    Another series of Underbelly coming soon.

    more like Police Academy 17

  12. #12
    RIP
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    16,939
    Some good crime stories from Melbourne.

    Anyone read Muddy Waters?

    Think it was called that, story of the Waters boxing family.
    Read it 20 years ago.
    Last edited by Chittychangchang; 27-08-2020 at 05:00 AM.

  13. #13
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Gangland figure Zlate Cvetanovski acquitted after drugs conviction quashed due to Lawyer X scandal

    By court reporter Danny Tran
    Posted 4hhours ago, updated 2hhours ago



    Zlate Cvetanovski had been serving an 11-year jail term on a series of drug charges.(AAP: James Ross)
    Share

    Gangland figure Zlate Cvetanovski, who spent close to a decade behind bars after criminal barrister Nicola Gobbo convinced a key witness to incriminate him, has become the second person to be acquitted over the Lawyer X scandal.

    Key points:


    • Mr Cvetanovski had served almost 10 years in jail on drug charges
    • Justice Chris Maxwell said there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice
    • The court found Ms Gobbo had persuaded a witness known as Mr Cooper to incriminate Mr Cvetanovski

    Victorian prosecutors conceded it would be "unjust" to pursue a retrial against Mr Cvetanovski, who was jailed over high-level drug trafficking on the evidence of a man who can only be known as Mr Cooper, a drug cook turned star prosecution witness.
    Today, the Court of Appeal heard that Ms Gobbo persuaded Mr Cooper to cooperate with police and incriminate Mr Cvetanovski.
    She and Victoria Police provided Mr Cooper with "moral support" while in prison, in addition to secret payments into his prison account.
    Justice Chris Maxwell today told the Court of Appeal that Mr Cvetanovski's conviction must be quashed.
    "There was a substantial miscarriage of justice," Justice Maxwell said.
    "Mr Cooper's evidence was central to the prosecution's case against the applicant … and the non-disclosure of the payments resulted in the jury being unable to make a proper assessment of Mr Cooper's credibility."
    Mr Cvetanovski is the second person to have his conviction scrapped in the wake of the Lawyer X saga, after the Court of Appeal quashed the murder conviction of Faruk Orman in July last year.
    He is among a number of underworld figures, including convicted kingpin Tony Mokbel and his drug cartel, who considered Ms Gobbo their lawyer at the height of Melbourne's bloody gangland war.


    Barrister-turned-police informer Nicola Gobbo is also known as Lawyer X.(ABC News: Greg Nelson)Cvetanovski says Lawyer X revelations 'distressing beyond explanation'

    Mr Cvetanovski said today's decision by the Court of Appeal marked an end to a "traumatic, frustrating and confusing period" of his life.
    "It allows me to close the door on a chapter of my life where this wrongful conviction adversely impacted on me, my relationship with family and friends, and my sense of self," he said.
    "I have been in custody for over 11 years after fighting charges, without understanding that my defence of such charges had been undermined since before my case began.
    "It is distressing beyond explanation to have to realise that, in a trial where you were attempting to defend yourself, the very basics of procedural fairness were denied you by people who swore an oath to uphold the law."


    Zlate Cvetanovski (centre) thanked his lawyers who also mounted a challenge to Faruk Orman's conviction.(AAP: Karen Sweeney)Mr Cvetanovski took aim at the conduct of Ms Gobbo and Victoria Police, which he called "shocking, scandalous and unprecedented".
    "It's difficult to express in a few words what it feels like to be shunned and stigmatised," he said.
    "This is what happened to me and my family."
    He today paid tribute to his lawyers, Ruth Parker and Thomas Bell, who were also successful in mounting the challenge against Faruk Orman's murder conviction.
    Ms Gobbo also represented Mr Orman and she encouraged a key witness to give evidence against him at trial.
    He was was jailed in 2002 for the murder of underworld figure Victor Peirce.
    Victoria Police said it acknowledged the decision by the Court of Appeal but would not be making any further comment.

    Gangland figure Zlate Cvetanovski acquitted after drugs conviction quashed due to Lawyer X scandal - ABC News







  14. #14
    Thailand Expat
    Headworx's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Jomtien
    Posts
    7,981
    Quote Originally Posted by Plan B View Post
    Another series of Underbelly coming soon.
    Already been done in a multi-part mini series, assuming there's only one female Lawyer down there who was defending crims and being an informer at the same time. Can't remember the name of it, but do recall it being worth watching.

    Edit: Series was called Informer 3838.
    Last edited by Headworx; 30-10-2020 at 02:02 PM.

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456
    Shame she's not dead yet.

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Tony Mokbel has cocaine importation conviction quashed by Victoria's Court of Appeal over Lawyer X scandal


    Victoria's Court of Appeal has quashed Tony Mokbel's conviction for cocaine importation as a result of the Lawyer X scandal.Gangland barrister Nicola Gobbo represented Mokbel while also providing information to Victoria Police.

    The court today quashed a conviction for importing a commercial quantity of cocaine, one of several convictions Mokbel is appealing.

    President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Chris Maxwell, said the court would decide at a later date whether it would order Mokbel to face a fresh trial over the allegations.

    But Commonwealth prosecutors have revealed even if the court orders a retrial on the charges, they will not go ahead with the trial.

    Prosecutor Rowena Orr QC said Mokbel had already served his sentence on the charges and they would discontinue the matter.

    The decision to overturn the conviction came after Commonwealth prosecutors conceded Ms Gobbo had been a registered informer while representing him.


    Mokbel remains in prison, convicted of other drug offences prosecuted by Victorian authorities.


    More to come.

    https://www.xxx.xxx.xx/news/2020-12-...yer-x/12984498

    A B C [dot] N E T [dot] A U
    Last edited by Saint Willy; 15-12-2020 at 07:34 AM. Reason: why is TD censoring the xxx.xxx.xx link?

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •