Findings of corrupt conduct
The Commission makes a finding of serious corrupt conduct against Joseph Tripodi for, sometime prior to 16 February 2011, misusing his position as a member of Parliament to improperly provide an advantage to Buildev by providing to Darren Williams of that company a copy of the confidential 4 February 2011 NSW Treasury report, Review of Proposed Uses of Mayfield and Intertrade Lands at Newcastle Port.
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 ICAC is of the opinion that the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) should be obtained with respect to the prosecution of the following persons:
- Samantha Brooks for offences of giving false or misleading evidence contrary to section 87 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988, namely that she received the Rex Newell painting known as Perrin’s Boat Shed for her birthday in 2010, and that Andrew Cornwell gave the Rex Newell painting known as Perrin’s Boat Shed to Hilton Grugeon as a Christmas gift in return for which Mr Grugeon paid her $10,120
- Andrew Cornwell for offences of giving false or misleading evidence contrary to section 87 of the ICAC Act 1988, namely that in December 2010 he gave the painting know as Perrin’s Boat Shed to Hilton Grugeon as a Christmas present, and that Mr Grugeon subsequently contacted him and offered to buy the painting from Samantha Brooks for the sum of $10,120
- Timothy Gunasinghe for the offence of giving false or misleading evidence contrary to section 87 of the ICAC Act, namely that on 16 December 2010 he made out a cheque to the Free Enterprise Foundation believing that the Free Enterprise Foundation was a political lobby group
- William Saddington for the offence of giving false or misleading evidence contrary to section 87 of the ICAC Act, namely that Joshua Hodges told Mr Saddington that he was establishing a consultancy firm, and that as a result of that conversation Mr Saddington gave Mr Hodges $4000 for the purpose of promoting Mr Hodges’ consultancy firm
- Timothy Koelma for offences of giving false or misleading evidence contrary to section 87 of the ICAC Act, namely that he provided a service to Matthew Lusted of LA Commercial Pty Ltd in return for the payment of $5000, that he provided a service to Iwan Sunito of Crown Consortium Pty Ltd in return for the payment of $2,200, and that he provided advice to Eric Stammer and Scott Johnson of Yeramba Estates Pty Ltd in return for the payment of $5000
- Christopher Hartcher for the offence of larceny, with respect to $4000 withdrawn from the accounts of the company known as Mickey Tech, those funds being intended as a donation to the NSW Liberal Party
- Joseph Tripodi for the offence of misconduct in public office, with respect to the provision of a confidential Treasury report to representatives of the private corporation Buildev Group Pty Ltd, without lawful authority to do so.
Briefs of evidence were provided to the DPP on 20 February 2017.
On 5 December 2017, the DPP advised that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Samantha Brooks. The Commission has accepted that advice.
On 23 October 2018, the DPP advised that there was insufficient
evidence to prosecute Andrew Cornwell or Timothy Gunasinghe. The Commission has accepted that
advice.
On 2 November 2020, the DPP advised that there was sufficient evidence to charge Timothy Koelma with six offences of giving false evidence to the Commission contrary to section 87 of the ICAC Act.
Court attendance notices were served on Mr Koelma on 7 December 2020. The brief was served on 26 February 2021. Mr Koelma was arraigned at Sydney District Court on 8 October 2021 and entered pleas of not guilty to all counts. The matter was next listed for a Readiness Hearing on 7 October 2022 and for trial on 28 November 2022 at Sydney District Court. On 23 November 2022 at Sydney District Court, Mr Koelma entered pleas of guilty to two section 87 offences with a third being placed on a Form 1. The sentence was listed on 17 March 2023 at the District Court. On 21 March 2023, Mr Koelma was convicted of two section 87 offences with a third being placed on a Form 1 to be taken into account when sentencing. Mr Koelma was sentenced for each offence to a term of imprisonment of 15 months. This sentence was partially accumulated to a total sentence term of 1 year and 6 months. The sentence is to be served by way of Intensive Corrections Order (ICO) and include 150 hours of community service, commencing on 21 March 2023 and ending on 20 September 2024.
On 21 December 2020, the DPP advised that there was sufficient evidence to charge William Saddington with one offence of giving false evidence to the Commission contrary to section 87 of the ICAC Act. A court attendance notice was served on Mr Saddington on 15 February 2021. The matter was mentioned at the Downing Centre Local Court on 3 December 2021 and the hearing listed on that day was vacated. The matter was adjourned for summary hearing on 24 January 2022, however, the hearing date was again vacated. The matter was mentioned at the Downing Centre Local Court on 24 January 2022 and listed for hearing on 31 May 2022. On 31 May 2022, the hearing was adjourned to 24 October 2022 as the part-heard magistrate was not available to hear the matter. On 24 October 2022, the hearing commenced and was to continue on 1 March 2023 at the Downing Centre Local Court. On 1 March 2023, the DPP directed that there be no further proceedings against Mr Saddington. The single charge of giving false evidence to the Commission contrary to section 87 of the ICAC Act was subsequently withdrawn and dismissed.
By letter dated 15 November 2022, the DPP advised the Commission that the evidence in relation to Mr Hartcher has been considered and that:
a) There is insufficient evidence to prosecute Mr Hartcher for the offence of larceny pursuant to section 117, Crimes Act 1900 in relation to his dealings with the three bank cheques payable to the NSW Liberal Party totalling $4,000.
b) Whilst there is a prima facie case for the offence of fraudulent appropriation pursuant to section 124 Crimes Act 1900 in relation to his dealings with the above three bank cheques and it cannot be said that there is no reasonable prospect of conviction, because section 124 is a strict statutory alternative to the offence of larceny and there is insufficient evidence to prosecute Mr Hartcher for the offence of larceny, the statutory alternative is not available.
The Commission has accepted the DPP advice.
On 17 December 2021, the DPP advised that, subject to complying with a number of requisitions, there was sufficient evidence to charge Mr Tripodi with a common law offence of misconduct in public office. After completing the requisitions, the Commission accepted this advice. On 19 October 2023, a court attendance notice was filed at Downing Centre Local Court. The matter was first mentioned on 28 November 2023 at Downing Centre Local Court. On 15 February 2024, at Downing Centre Local Court, the charge was certified and adjourned for mention to 16 May 2024.
Recommendations for disciplinary action
There are no recommendations for disciplinary action in this report.
Recommendations for corruption prevention
The Commission’s investigation uncovered conduct indicative of significant failures to comply with election funding laws concerning the disclosure of political donations, the prohibition on property developers making political donations and the caps placed on political donations.
At the time of the investigation, NSW had some of the most restrictive political donation and election expenditure rules of any jurisdiction, but those rules by themselves were demonstrated by the investigation as insufficient to make regulation effective. If the framework of enforcement, scrutiny by civil society, incentives and penalties does not support compliance with the rules, then rules alone will be ineffective.
Some of the weaknesses in the system uncovered by the investigation were remedied by the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Amendment Act 2014. This Act amended the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981 by increasing maximum penalties for summary offences relating to political donations and electoral expenditure. The limitation period for commencing proceedings for summary offences was also increased. Importantly, limits on political donations have meant that third-party campaigners and branches of political parties operating in other jurisdictions are no longer an effective conduit for circumventing NSW donation laws. In addition, a new separate indictable offence was created relating to schemes to circumvent the donation or expenditure prohibitions or restrictions. For serious matters, a member of Parliament may now, if convicted, lose their seat.
Despite these welcome changes, there remained flaws in the regulatory framework which, in the Commission’s opinion, continued to fall short of an effective system.
In December 2014, the Commission published its report, Election funding, expenditure and disclosure in NSW: Strengthening accountability and transparency. In that report, the Commission made 22 recommendations affecting electoral funding, disclosure, election expenditure and political party registration operations at both the macro and micro levels in the context of NSW state elections. The report was distributed to NSW Parliament as well as the Political Donations Panel of Experts, a panel of specialists assembled by the NSW Government to assess potential reforms to election funding laws, led by Dr Kerry Schott.
After the Commission’s report was released, the Political Donations Panel of Experts released their final report to the governor and premier. The report contained a set of 50 recommendations for reform to NSW election laws, traversing a range of issues, including restrictions on political donations and expenditure, public funding, party governance, regulation of third-party campaigners, disclosure requirements and enforcement. The 50 recommendations provided by the expert panel aligned closely with the recommendations submitted in the Commission’s December 2014 report.