LAWYER BACK IN COURT ON DRUG CHARGES

ONE of Australia's leading criminal lawyers was back in court yesterday on
drug charges.

Andrew Fraser, former lawyer for Australia's biggest corporate criminal
Alan Bond, has been charged with trafficking cocaine, using and possessing
cocaine and possessing ecstasy.

In the Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday, prosecutor Chris Ryan applied
for an adjournment of the case against Mr Fraser, claiming that police had
yet to trawl through volumes of material and were still investigating
"other persons".

"It's linked in an extraneous way to other matters which have caused
investigators to continue their investigations of other persons," Mr Ryan
told the court.

Con Heliotis QC, for Mr Fraser, said he expected all charges in relation to
his client to be finalised within two weeks.

In the court yesterday, magistrate Barbara Cotteral criticised lawyers
involved in the Fraser case, accusing them of not "following the rules" in
trying to adjourn the matter further.

"It's not following the rules in any way and this is the only matter I know
of where the rules are not being abided by even on the surface," she said.

Ms Cotteral adjourned the matter until October 11 for a special mention and
extended Mr Fraser's bail.

Mr Fraser, 48, regarded as one of the country's most sought-after criminal
lawyers, was not required to enter a plea. He was arrested earlier this
month by Victorian Drug Squad members and officers of the Australian
Federal Police and the Customs Service.

Mr Fraser's co-accused, Werner Paul Roberts, 52, and Andrea Mohr, 36, both
of Elwood, and Carold Brand, 36, of St Kilda have been remanded to appear
in Melbourne Magistrates Court on November 19.

Police recently claimed to have made one of Victoria's biggest drug busts,
which allegedly involved 6kg of cocaine with a street value of $6 million.

Speculation is rife in Melbourne's legal circles that at least five
high-profile legal identities could be involved. No charges have been laid
against any of the people rumoured to be involved.