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‘FREEDOM’. Corby wakes up in Australia after 12 years

An image taken of Schapelle Corby by Indonesian authorities before she was deported to Australia.

An image taken of Schapelle Corby by Indonesian authorities before she was deported to Australia. Photo: Twitter/7News

Schapelle Corby awoke in Australia for the first time in more than 12 years Monday with media yet to sight the convicted drug smuggler back on home soil.

The 39-year-old posted the single word FREEDOM on her Instagram account under a shot of a colourful oil painting appearing to show her riding a fantastical beast through a colourful dreamscape.

But while Corby deftly evaded the media scrum waiting for her on a scheduled flight from Bali, at Brisbane international airport and during a carefully orchestrated convoy to various destinations in the city, experts warn selling her story will not be an easy task.

Corby cannot cash in on her experiences while spent imprisoned in Bali but her family can, a Melbourne lawyer says.

FREEDOM hashtagoiloncanvas

A post shared by Schapellecorby (@schapelle.corby) on

But if the family is paid for media interviews, authorities will keep a close eye on the money trail, proceeds of crime expert Christian Juebner says.

“Schapelle Corby can’t make money as a result of her notoriety … arising from her offending but other people can,” he said.

“If, ultimately, it’s proved that the money flowed back to Schapelle Corby or she received some benefit – it doesn’t have to be actual money, just some commercial benefit – then the restraining order [on the funds] could be made.”

Media outlets will have an “enormous appetite” for the Corby story, publicist and celebrity booker Max Markson said.

“There is not a newspaper, magazine, radio station or website in Australia who won’t want to sit down with her, talk to her,” he said.

In 2006, Corby co-wrote My Story, an account of her life in Kerobokan Prison published by Pan Macmillian.

Her family pocketed $270,000 but the Commonwealth recovered about $128,000 in 2009.

Questions about when, where and if Corby would speak arose over the weekend as the convicted drug smuggler went to great lengths to evade the media.

After a last minute flight change in Bali, conceived to throw reporters off her trail, there was a lineup of decoy vans waiting in Brisbane.

On Sunday the Corbys continued to stun Australians as friends visited the family home carrying large bottles of vodka or wearing creepy masks.

The signs pasted onto her handbag about missing NSW boy William Tyrrell were still unexplained.

The getaway plan

schapelle corby veil

With her face hidden by sunglasses and a scarf, Schapelle Corby leaves the parole office. Photo: AAP

Upon her arrival in Brisbane, reporters were thrown off-guard when Corby was allowed to exit via a back door, disappearing into a black van with tinted windows among a convoy of decoy vehicles to evade the prying eyes of reporters as she fled to a safe haven.

It left reporters, some of whom had waited at the airport since 4am Sunday morning, scrambling to trace the movements of the eight vans which split in different directions — Italian Job style — further along the Gateway Motorway.

Some vans drove to Brisbane’s CBD while others continued towards the Gold Coast. Corby’s security was spotted at the Sofitel in Brisbane where she is believed to be located, the ABC reported.

Why William?

Corby’s decision to carry a bag featuring the image of missing Australian boy, William Tyrrell, in his Spiderman outfit raised questions as to whether she had an association with the child. People involved with the campaign to find William Tyrrell denied any involvement with the Corbys.

William is believed to have been abducted from his grandmother’s home on the New South Wales north coast on 12 September, 2014.

A statement on the Where’s William campaign’s Facebook page distanced efforts to find the boy from the Corbys.

“While the Where’s William Campaign appreciates that Schapelle Corby has shown concern regarding little William’s disappearance and in using her release as a convicted offender from Bali as a media opportunity to increase awareness that William is still missing, we are not happy,” the statement read.

” … Miss Corby has no association whatsoever to William, his loved ones or their campaign to find their little boy.”

When asked whether investigators had made any further progress since Corby’s media attention, NSW police told The New Daily: “Police are not aware of a connection between Schapelle Corby and the William Tyrrell investigation, so we are not in a position to provide a comment.

Halloween masks

With Corby known over the years for concealing her face with all kinds of head coverings — including scarves, a veil and hat, and a motorcycle helmet — now family friends have jumped on the bandwagon.

Schapelle Corby mask
A masked man is seen at Schapelle Corby's mother's house in Loganlea. Photo: AAP
A statue giving 'the finger' sits in a window facing the street at Schapelle Corby's mother's house in Loganlea. Photo: AAP
An image taken of Schapelle Corby by Indonesian authorities before she was deported to Australia. Photo: Twitter/7News
Hazard tape blocks the entrance to Schapelle Corby's mother Rosleigh Rose's house in Queensland. Photo: AAP
Schapelle Corby's aunt, Gen, arrives with a bottle of liquor at the family home. Photo: AAP
With her face hidden by sunglasses and a scarf, Schapelle Corby leaves the parole office. AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati

Reporters swarming Schapelle’s mother Rosleigh Rose’s Loganlea home were met with a frightening masked visitor at the doorway of the property.

The masked figure appeared at the doorway as other visitors entered or exited the house.

Another signal to reporters that the media attention was not welcome was the positioning of a wooden monkey ornament on a window sill inside the house, facing out towards the front yard and pointing its ‘rude finger’.

Schapelle Corby’s aunt Gen was seen arriving at her sister’s house with a large bottle of liquor.

-with AAP

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