Alleged kickback mastermind joked about getting ‘hitman’ to deal with official

3 months ago 7

The accused mastermind of a kickback scandal at NSW’s transport department was highly disparaging of a colleague who rejected a contractor from whom he was pocketing cash and millions in cryptocurrency, allegedly joking in a message that he should get a “hitman on her”.

In his 17th day in the Independent Commission Against Corruption witness box, sacked Transport for NSW official Ibrahim Helmy was questioned about his attempts to get contractor Protection Barriers and a related company onto a safety barriers panel which he oversaw, thereby clearing the way for it to bid for work.

The inquiry heard that Transport for NSW officer Adele Graham had recommended against progressing the two Grafton-based companies onto the panel in May 2023 because they did not meet safety, environmental and quality requirements.

Sacked Transport official Ibrahim Helmy was released from custody on Friday after his 17th day in the witness box.

In MS Teams messages with his alleged co-conspirator, Peter Le, Helmy said he “need[ed] to think of what im gona do with that bitch adele”, and that he needed a more senior official to “push for me”.

Le responded by telling him to “escalate it” to the senior colleague.

In the same message exchange, Helmy said he did not “know what to do”, adding “can you get a hitman on her”, “take her our” or “put her in hospital”.

After four months on the run from police, Helmy was discovered by detectives hiding in a cupboard in a unit in south-western Sydney on September 26 and taken into custody. Apart from his appearances in the witness box over 17 days, he had been in custody since late September but was released on Friday.

Questioned by ICAC counsel assisting Rob Ranken, SC, about the violently misogynistic messages about Graham, Helmy said he exaggerated his language in exchanges with Le and was joking about a hitman. He accepted the messages were inappropriate.

The inquiry has previously heard that by 2023 Graham had become suspicious of how Helmy was dealing with Protection Barriers and related company JC Safety, and believed he was communicating with contractors behind her back. Her role at Transport for NSW was to ensure contractors met their statutory obligations and were capable of carrying out work for the agency.

On Friday, the inquiry was shown emails and messages revealing that Helmy went over Graham’s head to more senior colleagues at Transport for NSW when she pushed back at his attempts to get Protection Barriers and JC Safety onto the safety barriers panel.

Helmy, 38, admitted that he assisted Protection Barriers founder Jason Chellew to resubmit an application for the panel, but said that Graham was “taking it personally” and that the way she was carrying out reviews of companies was a “bit extreme”. He repeatedly told the inquiry that Graham “was being unreasonable”.

The inquiry heard that he succeeded in getting Protection Barriers and JC Safety onto the panel, and they ended up receiving work that was substantially more valuable than other contractors.

He is alleged to have received $8.97 million in cryptocurrency payments from Chellew between 2021 and 2024, as well as $227,000 in cash between 2020 and 2021 and $60,000 in gold bullion in 2023.

The ICAC is investigating allegations Helmy was the mastermind behind corrupt relationships with nine companies that were paid at least $343 million in contracts by Transport for NSW. He is accused of pocketing $11.5 million in kickbacks from the contractors in return for their being awarded the work on the state’s roads.

Helmy was also questioned on Friday about why he had instructed his brother, who visited him in prison last weekend, to tell his friend and developer, Adam Taki, to read a transcript of his evidence to the public inquiry. The instruction was made before Taki appeared as a witness early this week.

Ranken quizzed Helmy about whether he was seeking to have his brother influence Taki’s evidence by having his friend read a transcript of his own.

Helmy maintained it was “nothing specific” and the transcript was public information.

The public inquiry into the kickbacks is part of an ICAC investigation known as Operation Wyvern. It is the fourth into corruption in procurement processes at Transport for NSW since 2019. Hearings were scheduled to finish at the end of last month, but have been extended until November 21.

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