Gangland figure Tony Mokbel has a "strong" appeal case and his remaining convictions could be quashed, judges have said as they granted him bail on a $1 million surety to live with his sister.
The 59-year-old smiled and kissed his sister Gawy Saad and shook hands with lawyers, as he was granted a first taste of freedom in 18 years.
He arrived at court on Friday morning from prison in an armoured BearCat vehicle, with dozens of police surrounding the gates, as he was whisked off to learn his fate.
Three Court of Appeal justices decided Mokbel should be freed on appeal bail as he had demonstrated exceptional circumstances to live in the community while fighting to overturn drug trafficking convictions in his Lawyer X appeal.
"Mr Mokbel will be granted bail," court president, Justice Karin Emerton, said.
"This was a very unusual case.
"As he was required to, Mr Mokbel has established his circumstances are truly exceptional."
Justice Emerton then went a step further and assessed the merits of Mokbel's appeal case.
She said he was "deliberately misled and deceived as to the strength and nature of the prosecution case" when he pleaded guilty to the drug offences.
"He has a very strong case that his convictions should be quashed," Justice Emerton said.
Media swarmed the court, along with bystanders who watched from the streets, as Mokbel prepares to leave custody.
The judges ordered Mokbel to be subjected to "extensive conditions" while on bail, including GPS monitoring via an ankle bracelet and bans on him using a smartphone or any encrypted software.
He cannot leave metropolitan Melbourne, nor Australia, and cannot contact any prosecution witnesses, nor co-accused.
Mokbel must obtain a phone, that is not a smartphone, within 12 hours and give that phone number to police.
Ms Saad, who had previously offered a $500,000 surety for her brother's bail, had increased this to $1 million, the court was told.
He will live at Ms Saad's four-bedroom home at Viewbank, in Melbourne's northeast, and she gave an undertaking to report Mokbel "immediately" if he does not abide by his conditions.
Mokbel has not tasted freedom since his 2007 arrest in Greece, after he famously absconded inside a yacht while on bail with a $1 million surety from his sister-in-law Renate.
Justice Emerton raised this "spectacularly extensive" breach of bail when explaining her decision but said his circumstances today, as a much older man who has spent 18 years in prison, are different.
"He has a clear incentive to remain in the jurisdiction and see the end of a process that began nearly 10 years ago," she said, referencing his first appeal filed in 2017.
"It's 19 years since the events in 2006, Mr Mokbel has aged since then and he has suffered a traumatic brain injury.
"He is not the man that he once was on medical reports."
Mokbel's barrister Julie Condon KC cited delays in hearing his appeal, the strength of his case, his poor physical health, strong ties to jurisdiction due to his family and "long-term de facto" relationship, as exceptional circumstances to prove his release.
He is fighting to overturn drug trafficking convictions, after he pleaded guilty to heading a multi-million dollar drug trafficking empire known as "The Company".
Mokbel was represented at the time by barrister-turned-supergrass Nicola Gobbo, unaware she was informing for Victoria Police.
He is currently eligible for parole in June 2031 and an appeal over his drug trafficking convictions will be heard later this year.
Mokbel will return to court for a directions hearing over his appeal on May 16.