Mokbel's brother on VIP list
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Michael Warner
June 27, 2007 12:00am
THE brother of one of Australia's biggest drug lords was free to gamble at the Gold Coast's Conrad Jupiters casino despite being barred from a Melbourne casino because of money laundering fears.
Horty Mokbel, brother of captured crime boss Tony Mokbel, is on a secret list of the biggest gamblers in Queensland obtained by The Courier-Mail's sister paper, The Herald Sun.
The leaking of the list is a major embarrassment to Jupiters' parent company Tabcorp, which also has casinos in Brisbane, Townsville and Sydney.
The secret membership roll for the Gold Coast casino reveals Tabcorp expects to pocket about $14 million from its top 800 interstate gamblers.
The casino's leaked VIP list includes high-profile businesspeople, lawyers and horse racing identities.
Horty Mokbel, who is now in jail over the alleged trafficking of $40 million of amphetamines, is revealed as Conrad Club member No. 307174.
He was banned from Melbourne's Crown Casino by Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon in June 2004.
But a Tabcorp spokesman said last night the exclusion order did not extend to Jupiters.
Police and federal authorities are now pushing for national casino exclusion orders for all 13 Australian casinos.
A Tabcorp spokesman said Jupiters staff had been unaware of Mokbel's background.
According to the list, the casino's biggest punter is metals trader Michael Millard from Turramurra in Sydney, whom Jupiters expects to part with more than $635,000 in a night at the roulette tables.
"I go in, cash a cheque of $200,000 or $300,000 and play . . . I only play roulette – about $40,000 a spin," Mr Millard said.