Findings of corrupt conduct
The Commission found that Diana Benyamin engaged in serious corrupt conduct by:
- on 5 January 2019, agreeing with Fahad Al-Dakak to effect the transfer of a registration of a motor vehicle in return for a financial benefit
- on 5 January 2019, providing Mr Al-Dakak with the wording for a false statutory declaration to facilitate the transfer of the registration referred to above together with instructions concerning how he could ensure she was the customer service officer who dealt with the transaction
- on 5 January 2019, agreeing with Mr Al-Dakak that she would supply him with the address of the owner of a motor vehicle from the Driver and Vehicle IT System (DRIVES) restricted database in return for a financial benefit
- on 30 May 2019: improperly accessing the personal information of an individual whose identity is known to the ICAC using the DRIVES restricted database, which she had access to in the exercise of her official functions at Service NSW; and intentionally disclosing that individual’s personal information to a family member, namely, the individual’s residential address and the licence plate number of his vehicle, knowing that the disclosure of such information was wrongful
- on 17 July 2019: intentionally and dishonestly causing another Service NSW customer service officer to access personal information on the DRIVES restricted database concerning the original purchase price paid by a seller for a vehicle purchased by Ms Benyamin’s sister on behalf of her father, and having that SNSW customer service officer provide that information to her;subsequently disclosing to her sister personal information from the DRIVES restricted database, namely, the price originally paid by the seller of the vehicle.
The Commission found that Fahad Al-Dakak engaged in serious corrupt conduct by:
- on 5 January 2019, offering a financial benefit to Ms Benyamin as an inducement to access the DRIVES restricted database for the purpose of effecting a transfer of a motor vehicle to Mr Al-Dakak or an associate
- on 5 January 2019, by agreeing with Ms Benyamin that she would prepare a statutory declaration for use by Mr Al-Dakak or his associate in connection with the transfer of the motor vehicle, knowing that the statutory declaration was false or misleading and knowing the statutory declaration would be provided to Service NSW
- on 5 January 2019, by offering a financial benefit to Ms Benyamin as an inducement to access the DRIVES restricted database to provide personal information of a third party, namely, an address to Mr Al-Dakak or an associate.
Recommendations for prosecutions
The Commission must seek the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on whether any prosecution should be commenced. The DPP determines whether any criminal charges can be laid, and conducts all prosecutions. The Commission provides information on this website in relation to the status of prosecution recommendations and outcomes as advised by the DPP. The progress of matters is generally within the hands of the DPP. Accordingly, the Commission does not directly notify persons affected of advice received from the DPP or the progress of their matters generally.
The Commission is of the opinion that consideration should be given to obtaining the advice of the DPP with respect to the prosecution of Diana Benyamin for the offences of:
- on 5 January 2019, agreeing to receive a financial benefit from Fahed Al-Dakak or an associate as an inducement to access the Driver and Vehicle IT System (DRIVES) restricted database for the purpose of effecting a transfer of a motor vehicle to Mr Al-Dakak or an associate, being an act in relation to the affairs or business of Service NSW contrary to section 249B(1) of the Crimes Act 1900
- on 5 January 2019, agreeing to receive a financial benefit from Mr Al-Dakak or an associate as an inducement to access the DRIVES restricted database and to provide personal information of a third party, namely, the third party’s address to Mr Al-Dakak or an associate, being an act in relation to the affairs or business of Service NSW contrary to section 249B(1) of the Crimes Act
- on 5 January 2019, conspiring with Mr Al-Dakak to contravene section 62(1) of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (“the PPIP Act”), namely, by agreeing to access the DRIVES restricted database and provide the address of a third party to Mr Al-Dakak or his associate knowing that such access was unauthorised•on 5 January 2019, conspiring with Mr Al-Dakak to contravene section 308H of the Crimes Act by accessing restricted data on the DRIVES restricted database, namely, the address of a third party
- on 5 January 2019, conspiring with Mr Al-Dakak to contravene section 307A of the Crimes Act by preparing the wording for a statutory declaration for use by Mr Al-Dakak or his associate in connection with the transfer of a motor vehicle, knowing that the statutory declaration was false or misleading and knowing the statutory declaration would be provided to a public authority
- on 30 May 2019, intentionally disclosing the address and licence plate number of a third party to a family member to which she had access in the exercise of her official functions, in contravention of s 62(1) of the PPIP Act
- giving false or misleading evidence during her compulsory examinations as particularised in chapters 2 and 3 of the report concerning this investigation.
The Commission is of the opinion that consideration should be given to obtaining the advice of the DPP with respect to the prosecution of Fahad Al-Dakak for the offences of:
- offering a financial benefit to Ms Benyamin to be paid by Mr Al-Dakak or an associate as an inducement to access the DRIVES restricted database for the purpose of effecting a transfer of a motor vehicle to Mr Al-Dakak or an associate, being an act in relation to the affairs or business of Service NSW in contravention of section 249B (2) of the Crimes Act
- offering a financial benefit to Ms Benyamin to be paid by Mr Al-Dakak or an associate to access the DRIVES restricted database and to provide personal information of a third party, namely, his address to Mr Al-Dakak or his associate, being an act in relation to the affairs or business of SNSW in contravention section 249B(2) of the Crimes Act
- conspiring with Ms Benyamin to breach section 62(1) of the PPIP Act, namely, by agreeing that she would access the DRIVES restricted database and provide the address of a third party to Mr Al-Dakak or his associate in exchange for a financial benefit, knowing that such access was unauthorised
- offering a bribe to Ms Benyamin to disclose to him or his associate information to which she had access in the exercise of her official functions, namely, the address of a third party in contravention of section 62(2) of the PPIP Act
- conspiring with Ms Benyamin to breach section 308H of the Crimes Act by accessing restricted data on the DRIVES system, namely, the address of a third party
- conspiring with Ms Benyamin to breach section 307A of the Crimes Act by using a statutory declaration for use by Mr Al-Dakak or his associate in connection with the transfer of a motor vehicle, knowing that the statutory declaration was false or misleading and knowing the statutory declaration would be provided to a public authority.
Briefs of evidence were provided to the DPP on 22 December 2022. The Commission is awaiting the DPP’s decision on whether proceedings will be taken.
Recommendations for disciplinary action
The Commission is of the opinion that Service NSW should give consideration to the taking of disciplinary action against Diana Benyamin.
On 16 July 2021, Service NSW advised that Ms Benyamin was placed on special leave after it became aware of the Commission's investigation. During the time that Ms Benyamin was on special leave, and prior to the report being made public, she resigned from Service NSW.
Recommendations for corruption prevention
The Commission makes the following four corruption prevention recommendations to help Service NSW prevent the conduct identified in this investigation from recurring.:
Recommendation 1
That Service NSW implements a risk-based system designed to improve detection of unauthorised access of personal information. As a minimum, Service NSW should use:
- analytics of access logs across the system to help detect anomalous or other patterns of access that might indicate unauthorised access
- routine, formalised auditing of individual Driver and Vehicle IT System (DRIVES) restricted database access logs to help detect where customer service officers’ database accesses are unrelated to legitimate transactions.
Recommendation 2
That Service NSW provides clear guidance on the circumstances where managers can consider allowing an employee to perform transactions in DRIVES for a family member or friend.
Recommendation 3
That Service NSW establishes a single electronic family and friends register to operate across all service centres to more easily facilitate comparison of information between centres and to help detect:
- circumstances where customer service officers have acted partially towards family or friends
- anomalous or inconsistent recording of transactions involving family and friends across centres.
Recommendation 4
That Service NSW identifies which trend and other relevant information from the register should be reported to the Operational Governance Team each quarter by service centre managers to enable a meaningful assessment of whether relevant.
Responses to ICAC recommendations
The action plan posted below has been provided by
the Service NSW in response to the ICAC’s recommendations. Its
publication here is to show the status of the responses. It does not
constitute approval or endorsement by the Commission.
24 month report - Service NSW
12 month report - Service NSW
Action plan - Service NSW