Daily London
A gangland lawyer is no longer facing criminal charges after prosecutors withdrew the case against her.
Sarah Tricarico, who has been acting for drug kingpin Tony Mokbel, was accused alongside Youssef Samaan Raffoul, 33, of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The charges were linked to information uncovered during a 2021 Operation Ironside investigation, which monitored communications shared using the AN0M app.
The app was set up by authorities under the guise of offering organised crime figures a safe encrypted messaging service when in reality it was being monitored by the AFP and FBI.
A committal hearing began in Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday, where the police informant was cross-examined by lawyers for Tricarico and Raffoul.
Today, senior crown prosecutor Raymond Gibson KC advised the court the charges should be struck out.
“As a result of a review of the evidence … the prosecution has decided to withdraw both charges against the accused,” he told the court.
Magistrate Leon Fluxman subsequently struck out the charges against Tricarico and Raffoul, with both of them free to leave the court.
Their lawyers did not apply for costs.
Tricarico has been representing gangland figure Mokbel since at least 2017 in his appeal against drug convictions.
Mokbel in October successfully overturned two of his three convictions, with the Court of Appeal finding barrister-turned-informer Nicola Gobbo infected the prosecution.
He is still facing a potential retrial on one of the charges.
