Mother of George Marrogi accused of being one of his gang members in Melbourne
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The mother of the feared underworld assassin George Marrogi is accused of being a member of his gang.
Driving instructor Madlin Enwiya, 55, was among half a dozen suspected Marrogi gang members who appeared at Melbourne Magistrate Court on Friday after being arrested in raids in Melbourne on January 31.
Their youngest son, Jesse Marrogi, was also charged amid allegations that the couple helped launder money for Marrogi’s Notorious Crime Family gang.
George Marrogi, 33, was the mastermind of a $50 million drug deal behind bars.
Madlin Enwiya, 55, appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday amid claims that he is part of his son’s criminal gang.
Melbourne woman Jessica Homa was also charged with carrying out Marrogi’s orders.
Dressed in a white T-shirt, Jesse fought to keep his eyes open during the brief hearing.
Appearing via video link, Jesse was sitting in front of a painting of his dead sister Meshilin, who died of complications related to Covid-19.
Jesse returned to Australia last year after traveling abroad when police attacked his brother in April.
Unlike his mobster brother, Jesse is best known for his relationship with Sabrine Maghnie, the daughter of dead Melbourne mobster Nabil Maghnie.
Jesse’s mother had appeared in court moments earlier from a different location.
Dressed in black, the Marrogi matriarch glared into the camera lens during her video link to the court.
She is accused of crimes related to the trafficking of criminal proceeds.
Marrogi’s alleged crew is accused of helping him launder dirty money from his multi-billion dollar criminal empire that operates behind bars.
The police operation, codenamed ‘Steelers’, involved far-reaching investigations into Marrogi’s activities.
Just last week, more than a dozen of his alleged accomplices were forced to confront the media outside Melbourne Magistrates Court.
On Friday, it was revealed that another woman was among the 24 arrested by police.
Jessica Homa appeared in court via video link on similar money laundering charges.
It is understood that police were able to make the arrests after George Marrogi’s girlfriend used an “active” phone during calls from jail.
Jesse Marrogi (right) is dating the daughter of dead gangster Nabil ‘Mad Lebo’ Maghnie. Pictured left: Sabrine Maghnie
Charity worker Antonietta Mannella pleaded guilty to helping Marrogi run her business from jail.
Detectives allege that those involved with the criminal gang funneled drug money through luxury properties, businesses and vehicles.
Police reportedly seized a $400,000 stolen Porsche, $20 million in crime proceeds, more than $2.2 million in cash and nearly 6kg of cocaine.
It was revealed last week that Marrogi was still able to run a $50 million drug operation while caged in one of Australia’s toughest jails.
He was aided in his drug deal by his ‘fair skin’ girlfriend Antonietta Mannella, who posed as his lawyer to help him move a massive drug shipment.
It was the use of his phone, which was tapped with secret police listening devices, that undid the alleged criminal operation that culminated in the police operation against Marrogi’s alleged henchmen.
Last year, Marrogi was sentenced in the Victorian High Court to a total of 32 years in jail for the cold-blooded public execution of a drug rival.
But jail time doesn’t seem to have stopped Marrogi from taunting the police from the inside.
Marrogi appeared before a judge again last month after being caught in a scheme to traffic massive amounts of drugs.
Jesse, Meshlin, Madlin and George Marrogi in happier times. Meshlin is dead, George is in jail, and Madlin and Jesse are charged.
Jesse Marrogi, pictured with his girlfriend Sabrine Maghnie, appeared to be sleeping during his court appearance on Friday.
A woman (left) was among those who allegedly helped Marrogi run his criminal empire. Unlike those who appeared in court on Friday, she was forced to appear in person.
Mannella, 28, of Mickleham, pleaded guilty to helping Marrogi run his business from Barwon.
He also faces accusations of helping to hide ill-gotten loot from Marrogi.
Victoria County Court heard last month that Mannella had been best friends with her dead sister when she inexplicably hooked up with the inmate.
Until then, Mannella had led an impeccable life and had previously delivered food to the homeless on the streets of Melbourne for a charity set up in memory of Marrogi’s sister, Meshilin, who died of complications related to Covid-19.
The court heard that Mannella and some of Marrogi’s cohorts attempted to move 800 liters of the drug Butanediol from South Australia to Victoria.
Marrogi and Mannella have pleaded guilty to attempting to traffic a large commercial quantity of illicit drugs.
George Marrogi in happier times. He will spend most of his life behind bars.
Antonietta Mannella posed as a lawyer to help George Marrogi deal drugs
The $50 million scheme had been based on a brazen scheme in which Mannella posed as Marrogi’s lawyer.
While Corrections Victoria monitors and records all prisoners’ phone calls, the couple relied on a well-known waiver that allows unmonitored calls with legal staff, which are considered privileged.
In unexplained circumstances, the court heard a phone used by a royal lawyer representing Marrogi diverted to Mannella whenever the thief touched it.
Mannella would answer the phone posing as ‘Cassidy’ in a poor attempt to throw off prison snoops.
The pair would then speak in code as they organized the movement of four 200-litre drums of butanediol, the key ingredient in gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB.
The court heard that Marrogi was able to convince a man who owed him cash to arrange the shipment, which revolved around a 71-year-old trucker driving the drums across the border into Melbourne.
The elderly driver was stopped by police as he was driving towards Horsham, in western Victoria.
The mission had been doomed from the start.
The court heard that the Australian Federal Police had tapped Mannella’s phone and had listened in on all the conversations he had with the crime boss.
Marrogi and Mannella will be sentenced for that crime this month.