A former NSW bureaucrat warned his colleague that people could "get hurt" if his preferred contractors weren't selected for a project involving Sydney highway repairs, an anti-corruption hearing has heard.
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Ex-Roads and Maritime Services employees Alexandre Dubois and Craig Steyn allegedly awarded more than $41 million in contracts to companies with which they were linked, receiving almost $7m in kickbacks over the decade to 2019.
Both are now under the Independent Commission Against Corruption spotlight, with their six-week hearing beginning this week.
Mr Dubois and Mr Steyn worked as program officers from 2014 in an RMS department associated with heavy vehicle maintenance and safety, and had both worked for the government agency since 2009.
Mr Steyn on Thursday told the inquiry Mr Dubois pulled him aside in mid-2019 after he sought to use internal resources for a repair job on Sydney's M4.
The pair were under ICAC investigation at the time but had not yet been raided by the commission. They were sacked later in the year.
Mr Steyn said he chose to use internal resources for the job as it needed to be completed quickly, but Mr Dubois replied: "I'll do it in my own time."
The pair then argued over Mr Steyn's preference, with Mr Dubois expressing his desire to oversee the repair job and choose the contractor himself.
Mr Steyn told the inquiry that Mr Dubois then said: "Leave it alone, people get hurt in these things". Mr Steyn then walked away.
The commission alleges Mr Dubois rigged RMS processes to bestow contracts on companies controlled by his friends, associates and family.
On a number of occasions, these companies were registered at the precise time they were put forward by Mr Dubois as contractors, counsel assisting Jason Downing SC said in his opening address on Monday.
After being involved in the creation of quotes, Mr Dubois would then recommend contracts with a sufficient profit margin to ensure a kickback.
Mr Downing said those kickbacks were received either through cash payments, expensive gifts or a slush fund linked to company MWK Developments, controlled by a friend of Mr Dubois.
From 2009, and particularly from 2014, Mr Dubois received cash and luxury items including a Rolex watch, several Porsches and a Ferrari F40 sports car.
Mr Steyn rigged the contract process in a similar fashion, Mr Downing said on Monday, obtaining a free knockdown and rebuild of his home, electronic devices and funds for living, travelling and school expenses.
Mr Steyn on Wednesday outlined how he acquired his home renovations for free, with Mr Dubois sending his friends and associates to do the job and promising a cheap rate. However Mr Steyn never paid the final bill.
He often gave his invoices to Mr Dubois to "take care of", he said.
Mr Steyn insisted he never thought twice about this process and that he'd been "caught up in a net of corrupt works" run by Mr Dubois. This is despite knowing the contractors for the RMS and his renovations were the same.
However, he acknowledged on Wednesday he'd exercised his functions as an RMS employee partially and dishonestly, sought benefits from chosen contractors and acted in an ultimately corrupt fashion.
He also admitted he provided extensive RMS work to AA Steel, run by his cousin's husband Ashley Alexander, without disclosing the relationship.
Mr Steyn also admitted he and Mr Alexander agreed after the 2019 ICAC raids to deem his alleged AA Steel kickbacks as a "loan" to be repaid, but he denied this was an attempt to set the pair's story straight.
The inquiry continues before ICAC chief commissioner Peter Hall QC.
Australian Associated Press
