Underworld figure Tony Mokbel has applied to change his plea on drugs charges from guilty to not guilty.
Mokbel, 46, pleaded guilty in April to trafficking large commercial quantities of speed and ecstasy.
On Tuesday he applied in the Victorian Supreme Court to change his plea to not guilty after an admission in a recent court hearing that police were not correctly swearing affidavits.
Mokbel's change of plea application can be reported after the lifting of a suppression order.
Asking Justice Simon Whelan for a suppression order on Mokbel's change of plea application, Mokbel's lawyer, Grace Morgan, said the application was made because of an admission by a Victoria Police officer that police were not properly swearing or affirming affidavits.
Ms Morgan argued if the change of plea application was made public, it could damage Mokbel's right to a fair trial at future trials he may face.
Prosecutor Peter Kidd described the change of plea application as "hopeless".
Justice Whelan rejected the application for the suppression order, saying "the cat was already out of the bag", because it was widely reported earlier this year that Mokbel had pleaded guilty.
Lawyers for Mokbel later sought leave to appeal the refusal of a suppression order to the Court of Appeal, but their appeal was rejected.
The change of plea application will return to court on Wednesday.
Mokbel's barrister, Peter Faris QC, has indicated it is unlikely he will be able to fully argue the change of plea case on Wednesday.
In April, Mokbel admitted heading a multi-million-dollar drug syndicate as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
He was to face a pre-sentence hearing on Tuesday, but instead announced he intended to change his plea.
Mokbel became one of Australia's most wanted men when he fled Australia in 2006 during a drug trafficking trial.
He hid out in country Victoria, before leaving Australia by boat via Western Australia.
Mokbel was arrested in 2007 at an Athens cafe.
He was extradited from Greece to Australia in 2008 to face murder and drug trafficking charges.
In May 2009, prosecutors dropped a murder charge laid against Mokbel for the killing of Michael Marshall at South Yarra in 2003.
Later in 2009, a Supreme Court jury found him not guilty of the murder of Lewis Moran.
