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A Queensland contractor has admitted that he lied to NSW’s anti-corruption watchdog in early evidence about his dealings with an allegedly corrupt Transport department official who remains on the run from police.
In his second day as a witness at an anti-corruption hearing, Lack Group Traffic director Deik Lack was questioned about evidence he gave at a compulsory examination in June where he repeatedly said that he had met Transport for NSW manager Ibraham Helmy only once at a coffee shop in Parramatta.
Lack, whose traffic control company is based on the Gold Coast, also told the Independent Commission Against Corruption in June that Helmy had not asked for benefits in return for him helping to boost the amount of work Lack Group was awarded by Transport for NSW.
Lack Group Traffic director Deik Lack appears before the ICAC inquiry into kickbacks.
Under questioning on Friday, Lack admitted to the hearing that he gave false evidence in June and that he knew he was doing so.
ICAC counsel assisting Rob Ranken, SC, suggested to Lack that the reason why he had lied about the number of times he met Helmy, and the then-Transport official requesting benefits, was because he knew that if he told the truth, it would implicate him in the “very conduct” the commission was investigating.
Lack responded: “When I first came to the commission … there was just so much going on. I actually didn’t plan out … what had actually happened.”
Ibrahim Helmy is alleged to have pocketed $11.5 million in kickbacks, including bundles of cash and gold bullion.Credit: Aresna Villanueva
Moments later, Rankin again put to Lack that he had “actively lied” about the number of times he had met Helmy, and about Helmy asking for cash and benefits from him.
“Correct,” Lack responded.
Rankin again suggested to Lack that the reason he had lied was because it would implicate him in the conduct the ICAC was investigating.
Lack responded: “Yes.”
While Lack told the ICAC in June that he met Helmy only once, the public inquiry heard on Thursday that he had flown from Coolangatta to Sydney on five occasions between March 2023 and May 2024.
On each occasion, Lack drove to Helmy’s home in Merrylands, near Parramatta, where he picked him up, and the pair would hold meetings in the car.
On Thursday, Lack also told the hearing that the first time that Helmy mentioned to him about paying cash was at their second to last meeting in 2024. Lack has told the inquiry that he never paid cash to Helmy at their meetings.
The ICAC is investigating allegations Helmy was the mastermind behind corrupt relationships with nine companies, including Lack Group, that were paid at least $343 million in contracts by Transport for NSW.
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It has been alleged that Lack Group was awarded about $50 million of work by Transport for NSW from March 2023 to June this year as a result of corrupt dealings with Helmy. The inquiry heard that the number of work orders that Transport for NSW issued to Lack Group increased to 239 in 2023, from 89 a year earlier.
Helmy, 38, is alleged to have pocketed $11.5 million in kickbacks – including bundles of cash, gold bullion and cryptocurrency – over 15 years from contractors, in return for them being awarded work. He failed to appear before the ICAC in May and police have a warrant out for his arrest.
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