Australia's missing '$11.5million man's' insulting sledge to his adopted country before disappearing 'with taxpayer cash' after putting the bins out: 'White people's money'

Daily Mail​

a day ago

A government bureaucrat accused of pocketing millions in bribes joked to associates about taking 'white people's' money, an Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry has heard.
Former Transport for NSW procurement officer Ibrahim Helmy, 38 - the alleged mastermind of a $343million corruption scheme involving the alleged rigged government contracts - has been on the run from authorities since May.
He was last seen putting the bins out on a Sunday night but failed to return, according to his family.
NSW Police issued an arrest warrant for Helmy last month after he failed to appear before the ICAC inquiry, Operation Wyvern, which has since entered its fourth week.
The inquiry heard explosive claims this week that Helmy boasted about the money he allegedly pocketed.
An associate texted that he 'likes white people giving us money', the Daily Telegraph reported.
Helmy allegedly responded: 'It's like they're giving us money to live in their country'.
In another text, he allegedly bragged: 'We're here in their country taking their money.'
The associate allegedly mocked that 'they are all the same, making us money' in another exchange.
Helmy allegedly replied: 'That's right… all (a) bunch of Aussies'.
He is alleged in ICAC hearings to have received $11.5million in kickbacks – including bundles of cash, gold bullion, and cryptocurrency – from contractors in return for them being awarded work on the state's roads.
Helmy worked for Transport for NSW for 15 years until his employment was terminated earlier this year.
The ICAC inquiry this week also heard from Wayne Harrison, the director of Kerway Asphalting Pty Ltd, which was allegedly paid $35 million by Transport for NSW over a five-and-a-half-year period up until May 2025.
He recalled how he learned of the ICAC investigation through the media and Helmy's reaction to the probe in subsequent calls.
'I said to him, 'I heard someone in your office is in trouble'… but I didn't know it was him (Helmy),' Mr Harrison told the inquiry.
'He said it was old news that happened four years ago.'
The inquiry also heard how Helmy allegedly demanded $800,000 in cash from Mr Harrison, who pushed back.
'I know you've got that sort of money,' Helmy replied before he allegedly produced a private document detailing Kerway Asphalting's finances.
When Mr Harrison asked how he obtained it, Helmy allegedly replied: 'I've got ways.'
Gold, platinum and silver bars, gold nuggets, bundles of cash totalling $12,317, and a Maserati were seized during a raid by ICAC and the NSW Crime Commission on Helmy's Merrylands home in western Sydney last September.
The probe led to raids on the head office of Protection Barriers, one of the state's biggest roadworks companies.
The business secured significant deals worth more than $110million from Transport for NSW for road safety work.
Luxury cars were seized from the company's headquarters in northern NSW before the firm fell into voluntary administration in March.
The inquiry, presided over by ICAC Chief Commissioner John Hatzistergos, is expected to run for another two weeks.
It's the fourth public inquiry into Transport for NSW since 2019.