The yellow Mercedes, bundles of cash, and meeting near the Big Merino
An anti-corruption inquiry heard that Capital Lines & Signs director Andrew Stewart met the then-Transport for NSW manager Ibrahim Helmy on at least 10 occasions between May 2020 and 2024, including in a McDonald's car park near the Big Merino at Goulburn, where he handed over $85,000 in cash.
Stewart confirmed that he paid Helmy cash of between $20,000 and $110,000 on each of their eight meetings, including payments of $100,000 on two occasions. '[Helmy] was relentless. He'd ring me out of the blue, and he would always harass me for money,' he told the inquiry.
He also said that Helmy pressed him to pay in cryptocurrency, and that he wanted him to buy him a yellow Mercedes-Benz CLA45-S class car and put it in his sister's name.
The inquiry was shown a text message Helmy sent to Stewart on February 17, 2023, which contained a photo of a yellow Mercedes-Benz car.
Stewart said that Helmy had told him in a conversation two days earlier that he wanted him to buy him the car worth about $130,000. 'All I said to him was I'll look at it,' Stewart recalled to the inquiry. 'He sent me the details … but I never purchased the car. I did look online.'
The Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating allegations Helmy was the mastermind behind corrupt relationships with nine companies, including Capital Lines & Signs, that were paid at least $343 million in contracts by Transport for NSW.
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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