The daughter of one of Melbourne’s most notorious gangland figures says her childhood was in no way different to most other upbringings, despite her father being a convicted drug dealer.
Tony Mokbel was jailed for 30 years in 2012 for a number of charges relating to ‘The Company’ – the drug cartel he ruled for more than two decades and turned into the biggest in Australian history.
With money came power and as Melbourne’s underworld war raged from 1998 to 2010, Mokbel was a major player.
But according to Susan, his daughter with his ex-wife Carmel DeLorenzo, there was nothing unusual about being a child in the household of one of the nation’s most wanted criminals.
Susan Mokbel (above), the daughter of feared gangster and drug lord Tony, says her childhood was no different to any other
‘I don’t think it was different at all… define most childhoods growing up?’ Ms Mokbel told Daily Mail Australia this week.
Mokbel and Ms DeLorenzo married when he was in his early 20s and the couple had two children – a son Sajih, and Susan.
After moving to Australia with his family in the mid-1970s, he established himself as a drug kingpin by the 1980s and was soon heading up ‘The Company’.
But as a key player in Melbourne’s underworld, he had several run-ins with other criminal heavyweights.
Among them was a severe bashing at the hands of Coffin Cheaters bikies, after Mokbel claims he was ‘lured in’ by fellow gangster and ‘Carlton Crew’ member Mick Gatto.
His involvement in the underworld war included being acquitted of paying $150,000 to have Lewis Moran killed.
Facing charges relating to the drug cartel, he fled Australia in 2006 and sailed to Greece. There he was joined by his girlfriend Danielle McGuire, who was carrying the couple’s daughter.
Mokbel was finally caught by police in June 2007 and in 2012 was jailed for a minimum of 22 years.
Key underworld figure Anthony Sajih ‘Tony’ Mokbel (pictured) is lead into a prison van after being sentenced to 30 years jail for his role at the head of ‘The Cartel’ – one of Australia’s biggest ever drug syndicates
Susan Mokbel (left), the daughter of convicted drug kingpin Tony Mokbel and his ex-wife Carmel DeLorenzo (right)
But Susan Mokbel isn’t the only child of a notorious crime figure to have grown up at the height of the gangland war.
Aside from Mokbel, names such as Gatto, Moran, Gangitano, Barbaro and Williams became synonymous with fear during that time.
Over this blood-soaked period between 1998 and 2010, some 36 gangland figures were killed across Melbourne.
While old-school gangsters kept wives and children out of harm’s way, Melbourne’s breed of heartless killers didn’t hesitate to gun down their enemies assassination style in full view of their loved ones.
Brittany McGuire – daughter of Tony Mokbel’s ex-girlfriend Danielle McGuire
As the underworld war raged, Danielle McGuire was often on the arm of some of Melbourne’s most violent figures.
She first dated Mark Moran, who was gunned down at his home in June 2000. That was followed by a relationship with drug kingpin Tony Mokbel, during which the pair had a daughter who was born in Greece in 2006, at which time Mokbel was on the run.
Ms McGuire also reportedly had a fling with notorious former bikie Toby Mitchell.
She once tearfully admitted: ‘You can’t help who you fall in love with’.
While some of her lovers spent time behind bars, Ms McGuire was herself jailed for trafficking $800,000 worth of ecstasy in 1998.
Her daughter Brittany, now 22, is the owner of a hair salon in Port Melbourne and regularly posts photos online of a glamorous life, much like that her mother often enjoyed.
Four years ago Brittany found herself before the courts, pleading guilty to speeding at 157km/h in a 100km/h zone.
From Mark Moran to Tony Mokbel, Danielle McGuire (pictured) was often on the arm of some of Melbourne’s most violent figures throughout the underworld war
Ms McGuire’s daughter Brittany (pictured) is just as glamorous as her mother, who went to Greece with Mokbel in 2006 and gave birth to their child
The 22-year-old, who owns a hair salon in Port Melbourne, has had a number of brushes with the law in recent years including a speeding offence in 2014
Amelia and Ellie Gangitano – daughters of Alphonse Gangitano and his wife Virginia
Feared gangster Alphonse Gangitano (pictured) was just the second person to die in Melbourne’s gangland war
Alphonse Gangitano, better known as the ‘Black Prince of Lygon Street’, ruled the streets with an iron fist as a member of the Carlton Crew in the 1980s and 90s.
Aside from being a fight promoter, nightclub owner and gambler, his love of extreme violence also saw him take a shine to the role of debt collector.
His fellow Carlton Crew member and friend Mick Gatto said he was simply stunned by Gangitano’s behaviour on several occasions.
Close associate Jason Moran – who is believed to have orchestrated Gangitano’s death – was also recorded talking about the mobster’s love of violence.
‘He’s a f***ing lulu… if you smash five pool cues and an iron bar over someone’s head… you’re a f***ing lulu,’ Moran said.
Before he was shot dead inside his home in January 1998, Gangitano was raking in an estimated $200,000-a-month.
But while some children of the Melbourne underworld’s most notorious figures have followed their parents into trouble, Gangitano’s daughters Amelia and Ellie have not.
Amelia and her partner Tristan are understood to be engaged, and recently welcomed a daughter.
His other daughter Ellie has forged a career as an actress. Following her screen debut on Neighbours as a toddler in 1985, she also recently appeared alongside Craig McLachlan in The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
Criminal enforcer Alphonse Gangitano (centre back), his wife Virginia (centre) and their two daughters Amelia and Ellie (front)
The feared gangster’s daughters Amelia Gangitano and her fiance Tristan (left), and budding actress Ellie Gangitano (right)
Gangitano (centre), a feared member of the Carlton Crew, was shot dead inside his own home in 1998 – his former accomplice Jason Moran was believed to be responsible
Damien, Sarah, Justin and Michael Gatto – children of Mick Gatto and wife Cheryle
Despite being a leader of the infamous ‘Carlton Crew’, Mick Gatto managed to escape the underworld war mostly unscathed.
In 2004 he was acquitted of the murder of suspected hitman Andrew ‘Benji’ Veniamin, with a jury ruling Gatto had acted in self-defence when he shot Veniamin, who had threatened to kill him.
A former boxer and debt collector, he now works professionally as a mediator in the building sector. Gatto married his wife Cheryle in 1978 and the couple have four children – Damien, Justin, Michael and Sarah.
In 2008, as the gangland war was drawing to a close, Damien and his model wife Fiona tied the knot in a VIP-filled wedding in Melbourne’s Docklands.
But the couple’s ceremony was not without incident, with the attempted assassination of Gatto’s associate Fedele D’Amico occurring as guests partied into the night.
Damien now works for a construction company, while Fiona is a design consultant and a former Chadwick model. The couple have three young children of their own.
The youngest member of the family, Sarah Gatto married Danny Awad in a lavish ceremony in December 2016. The couple have a two-year-old daughter, who they welcomed in mid-2015.
Gatto’s son Justin narrowly escaped with his life following a horror car crash in 2008. A court heard he lost control of his BMW and crashed head-on into an oncoming four-wheel-drive. A judge suspended his license for a month.
The Morans (L to R): Danny Awad (Sarah’s husband), Justin Gatto, Sarah Gatto, Cheryle Gatto, Mick Gatto, Damien Gatto and Fiona Gatto (Damien’s wife)
Mick and Cheryle’s son Damien and wife Fiona (left), and their daughter Sarah and husband Danny Awad (right)
Danny Awad (far left), his wife Sarah Gatto (left), Justin Gatto (centre), Fiona Gatto (right) and her husband Damien Gatto (far right)
Dhakota Williams – daughter of Carl Williams and ex-wife Roberta
Carl Anthony Williams was not only the most high-profile player during the underworld war – but he was also the final victim.
Williams died of a heart attack in 2010 after being hit over the head with an exercise bike seat in Barwon Prison.
He was implicated in ordering the murders of Lewis Moran, his son Jason, Mario Condello, Mark Mallia and Michael Marshall.
Williams’ wife Roberta was a colourful figure throughout the war, but largely shielded their daughter Dhakota from the limelight in its aftermath.
That was until recently with the teenager opening up about her life and announcing that, unlike her criminal father, she wanted to pursue a career as a lawyer.
Dhakota, 17, also made headlines earlier this year after seemingly sneaking into the Mahogany Room, a VIP area for over 18s at Melbourne’s Crown Casino – the same gaming complex her father was controversially banned from in 2004.
Feared gangster Carl Williams (centre) kisses his daughter Dhakota after being granted bail in 2003. His ex-wife Roberta (left) watches on with a smile
Dhakota Williams, now 17, kept out of the limelight for many years until a series of interviews where she revealed her hopes to become a lawyer
Antonios ‘Anthony’ Mokbel – son of Horty Mokbel and nephew of Tony Mokbel
He escaped the gangland war and later escaped Australia, but the law finally caught up with Tony Mokbel.
Fleeing to Greece by boat in 2006, he spent more than a year on the run before being caught by police in 2007.
Tony’s nephew Anthony Mokbel, the son of his brother Horty, has also faced court on a number of occasions in recent years.
In 2014 he pleaded guilty over a fracas on a Jetstar flight from Melbourne to the Gold Coast, while in 2015 he again pleaded guilty after finding himself in trouble when he was caught driving while suspended.
Tony Mokbel (second from left) with his brothers Horty Mokbel (far left) and Milad Mokbel (far right) smile for a photo
Pasquale Barbaro – relative of Pasquale ‘Little Pat’ Barbaro
It was probably the most infamous hit of the gangland war.
Jason Moran and associate Pasquale ‘Little Pat’ Barbaro were shot dead just moments after collecting Moran’s twin boys and other children from an Aussie Rules football clinic.
The Mitsubishi van they were in was left covered in blood as gunshots pummeled the driver and passenger seats.
Despite being seated only centimetres away in the back, the children all somehow escaped any physical harm.
Since then the name Pasquale Barbaro has regularly popped up in several criminal cases, including the Pasquale Barbaro who was gunned down in Sydney in 2016.
Another Pasquale Barbaro is now serving 30 years in prison following the world’s biggest ecstasy bust in 2012.
A fourth man by the same name counts Anthony Mokbel among his mates, but has steered clear of trouble.
Pasquale ‘Little Pat’ Barbaro (pictured) was shot dead alongside Jason Moran in what is perhaps the most infamous murder of the underworld war
Another Pasquale Barbaro (centre) with links to the Calabrian mafia was shot dead in an execution style killing in Sydney in 2016
A fourth Pasquale Barbaro is close friends with Tony Mokbel’s nephew Anthony (left) and cuts a cake with his father Pasquale Barbaro (right)