Extent of Mokbel fortune 'unknown'

During a bail application for Horty Mokbel in the Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday, a member of the taskforce said the Mokbel family had vast sums of money not yet known to the police.

"For every dollar that we have seized off the defendant and his family, we estimate that there are another five dollars buried in someone's backyard," Detective Senior Constable Angela Hantsis told the court.

Police have so far seized an estimated $55million in assets from Tony Mokbel and his associates.

His brother Horty Mokbel, 45, was charged last week with two counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

Police allege that he falsely claimed on applications for mortgages of $478,500 from Interstar Wholesale Finance and $800,000 from Westpac, and that his wife, Zaharoula, earned more than he did.

The charges are in addition to two counts of trafficking a commercial quantity of methylamphetamine, two of possession of chemicals and equipment used in the manufacture of a drug of dependence and one of pre-trafficking a pre chemical.

Prosecutor Andrew Tinney opposed bail, arguing that Mokbel would place pressure on key witnesses or abscond.

Senior Constable Hantsis said that between October 2006 and April 2007, Horty Mokbel had been involved in the manufacture and trafficking of methylamphetamine.

She said that if released he would be a significant flight risk.

But Stephen Shirrefs, SC, for Mokbel, said there was no evidence other then the testimony of his client's alleged associates that he was involved in any drug trafficking.

He asked Senior Constable Hantsis if there was any evidence that Horty Mokbel had assets or money that police had not yet uncovered. She replied: "No."

A magistrate will rule on the application this week.