Lora Mokbel, mother of convicted drug trafficker Tony Mokbel, was laid to rest on Tuesday, in the absence of her son who spent the day confined to Barwon Prison’s high-security unit.
Tony Mokbel reportedly declined to submit an application that could have seen him farewell his 83-year-old mother who died of natural causes on Mother’s Day. His younger brother, Milad, serving time for drug offences, was also absent.
Those who did attend the funeral to pay their respects at Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church in Thornbury included members of the family and the Hells Angels bikie gang.
Amongst the mourners were gangland war survivor Mick Gatto, John Khoury and other former ‘business associates’ of Tony Mokbel.
Adding to the colourful cast was Mrs Mokbel’s daughter-in-law, Zaharoula, who stood out from the crowd with her bright red hair.
At the funeral service a heart-shaped wreath was laid on Mrs Mokbel’s casket with the words “from your loving son Tony and family”.
Lora Mokbel single-handedly raised her four sons after her husband Sajih’s death in 1980 when Tony was 15. The family migrated to Australia from Lebanon in 1974.
She defended her sons to the end, particularly Tony, giving a video interview to the Herald Sun last year on the eve of her son’s sentencing to a minimum of 22 years’ jail for drug offences.
In the interview, which was conducted in Greek, she described her son as a good father and a good man.
While on the run in Athens in 2007 Tony instructed his associates to send large sums of money to Lora, who was living in the family’s Brunswick home.
Mrs Mokbel spent the last two months of her life in church care. Monsignor Joseph Takchi described her as a deeply religious and humble woman who prayed each day.
Fr Joseph said the hard-working mother had dedicated her life to her children and grandchildren.
The significance of patched-up Hells Angels at the service has been remarked on by media this week, with the Herald Sun reporting that a confidential police email, made public in March, warned that the Angels were in conflict with the outlaw Bandido gang.
Tony Mokbel is known to be at odds with senior Bandido Toby Mitchell, who has twice been wounded in shooting ambushes.
Mitchell was for some time in a relationship with Danielle McGuire, Mokbel’s former partner and the mother of one of his children.
After the funeral service, around 150 mourners followed the hearse carrying Mrs Mokbel on her final journey to Fawkner Memorial Park.
She was laid to rest alongside her husband. One of the mourners described Mrs Mokbel as a great woman and the reason why so many people had come to say their last goodbye.
“I’m sure Tony will be hurt that he couldn’t be here to say goodbye,” he said.
Additional material: Herald Sun