Wanted official got gold after kickbacks ‘went crazy’
Sam McKeith and Jack Gramenz |
An ex-government contractor claims he tried to “pacify” a transport official with gold after falling behind on an alleged multimillion-dollar kickback scheme for roadworks services.
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption on Monday started public hearings into alleged rigging and inflation of contracts involving former Transport for NSW procurement officer Ibrahim Helmy between 2012 and 2024.
Helmy, terminated by the agency in February, is suspected to have received more than $11.5 million from the alleged scheme, which involved contracts worth more than $343 million.
He is wanted by police and is believed to be in hiding after a failed attempt to leave Australia on a US passport in September.
The founder of Protection Barriers told the inquiry on Monday Helmy “proposed giving us jobs for kickbacks”.
“I didn’t really want to do it but that’s what we did at the time,” Jason Chellew said.
Under the deal, beginning in 2020, Helmy allocated roadworks contracts to Mr Chellew’s company at inflated rates, with the amount “on top” split evenly between them.
About a year later, 80 per cent of Protection Barriers’ work was coming from Transport for NSW, Mr Chellew said.
Protection Barriers secured jobs worth about $100 million over four years, counsel assisting the inquiry Rob Ranken SC said.
Mr Chellew said he initially paid cash but as the work “went crazy”, difficulties withdrawing sufficient sums prompted a switch to cryptocurrency.
He even once brought gold to a Sydney petrol station in 2023 in a bid to “pacify” Helmy.
“I was behind on giving him some money or something so I give him that.”
Mr Chellew said he met with Helmy up to seven times before their arrangement ceased in September 2024, the same month Helmy was suspended from the department.
In the meetings, Helmy showed Mr Chellew a computer screen with records of payments made, and how they were made, the inquiry was told.
Asked if he considered the arrangement improper, Mr Chellew said the scheme “got out of hand”.
“When it started I thought it was just a little operation, it was never going to go as crazy as it did.”
Helmy, who joined Transport for NSW as a graduate in 2010, has been wanted by police since May after failing to appear when summoned.
It is alleged Helmy formed corrupt relationships with several other agency contractors and colleagues, including one-time Transport for NSW employee David Liu, who was based in Newcastle .
The inquiry was told Mr Chellew paid Mr Liu thousands of dollars in kickbacks sourced from inflated fees for renting a truck and driver to the agency.
Mr Liu, an associate of Helmy, communicated with Mr Chellew via Whatsapp and was paid when the pair met up at locations that included a petrol station, hardware store and industrial complex in the Hunter region.
The probe is the fourth public inquiry since 2019 into claims of corruption in procurement at Transport for NSW, which is responsible for a $23 billion annual budget.
The inquiry continues on Tuesday.
AAP
