Latest news with #ProtectionBarriers
The Age
2 days ago
- The Age
‘I am richer haha': Fugitive transport manager's message after $150,000 crypto transfer
A now-sacked Transport for NSW manager who is on the run after allegedly pocketing $11.5 million in kickbacks regularly gave step-by-step instructions about how to transfer cryptocurrency from a road contractor's account to one he was the beneficiary of, an inquiry has heard. WhatsApp messages, emails and phone records in 2021 show communications between Protection Barriers director Meshel Chellew and then-Transport for NSW manager Ibrahim Helmy about how she could set up a cryptocurrency account and later transfer funds of up to $150,000 at a time to another crypto account from the company. In one exchange between the pair in 2021, a WhatsApp message from Helmy confirming that a transfer had come through read: 'I am richer haha.' The Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating allegations Helmy was the mastermind behind corrupt relationships with companies, including Protection Barriers, that were paid at least $343 million in contracts. Helmy, 38, failed to appear before the ICAC in May and police have a warrant out for his arrest. Under questioning on Wednesday, Chellow confirmed Helmy would regularly instruct her while on the phone about a cryptocurrency transfer, providing by email details which she then cut and pasted into Protection Barriers' cryptocurrency account to enable transfers. 'He is sending me a step-by-step guide. I can't follow what he said on the phone sometimes. He would send me a screenshot,' she told the inquiry. 'He is always on the phone. I didn't have a clue what I was looking at.' Their first conversation was on March 13, 2021, after her husband, Jason Chellew, told her that Helmy would call to instruct her about how to set up an account for Protection Barriers. 'He just says, 'a guy will call you',' she said. '[Jason] said we are going to set up an account for [cryptocurrency exchange] Independent Reserve and I didn't even know what it was.'
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘I am richer haha': Fugitive transport manager's message after $150,000 crypto transfer
A now-sacked Transport for NSW manager who is on the run after allegedly pocketing $11.5 million in kickbacks regularly gave step-by-step instructions about how to transfer cryptocurrency from a road contractor's account to one he was the beneficiary of, an inquiry has heard. WhatsApp messages, emails and phone records in 2021 show communications between Protection Barriers director Meshel Chellew and then-Transport for NSW manager Ibrahim Helmy about how she could set up a cryptocurrency account and later transfer funds of up to $150,000 at a time to another crypto account from the company. In one exchange between the pair in 2021, a WhatsApp message from Helmy confirming that a transfer had come through read: 'I am richer haha.' The Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating allegations Helmy was the mastermind behind corrupt relationships with companies, including Protection Barriers, that were paid at least $343 million in contracts. Helmy, 38, failed to appear before the ICAC in May and police have a warrant out for his arrest. Under questioning on Wednesday, Chellow confirmed Helmy would regularly instruct her while on the phone about a cryptocurrency transfer, providing by email details which she then cut and pasted into Protection Barriers' cryptocurrency account to enable transfers. 'He is sending me a step-by-step guide. I can't follow what he said on the phone sometimes. He would send me a screenshot,' she told the inquiry. 'He is always on the phone. I didn't have a clue what I was looking at.' Their first conversation was on March 13, 2021, after her husband, Jason Chellew, told her that Helmy would call to instruct her about how to set up an account for Protection Barriers. 'He just says, 'a guy will call you',' she said. '[Jason] said we are going to set up an account for [cryptocurrency exchange] Independent Reserve and I didn't even know what it was.'
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Key ICAC witness put the rubbish out on a Sunday night. He hasn't been seen since
It is alleged that the Grafton company paid a total of $227,000 in cash to Helmy between 2020 and 2024, $60,000 worth of gold bullion nuggets in 2023 and cryptocurrency payments totalling about $8.97 million from 2021 to 2024. Ranken said it was alleged that Helmy, 38, engaged in a wide range of corrupt practices in exchange for benefits, which included ensuring Protection Barriers was the preferred contractor and approving the payment of falsely inflated invoices. He said the ICAC anticipated that there would be evidence that Helmy was assisted in his arrangement with Protection Barriers by two other Transport for NSW associates – Mukeshkumar Patel and David Liu – who allegedly received financial benefits. Last September, officers from ICAC, the NSW Police and NSW Crime Commission conducted raids on properties around the state. Items seized from Helmy's home included nine 100-gram gold bullion bars, five one-ounce gold bullion bars, three red bags containing 20 one-ounce gold bullion nuggets and $12,317 in cash. Ranken said evidence would show that the gold bullion seized from Helmy's home were consistent in appearance with gold bullion nuggets Chellew allegedly provided to him in 2023. In addition, the NSW Crime Commission seized $413,000 worth of cryptocurrency held by Helmy and the equivalent of $8 million in cryptocurrency in a Binance account in the name of his sister. It also seized a Maserati he purchased. The Crime Commission also seized property and assets from Chellew and his wife Meshel and their related entities worth more than $41 million, including $735,000 in cryptocurrency, a 2023 Lexus car worth about $160,000 and two 2024 Bentleys each worth about $500,000. In addition, they also seized multiple properties owned by the Chellews in NSW and Queensland worth $15 million. Under questioning at the first day of a public inquiry on Monday, Jason Chellew said he was asked by Helmy in about April or May 2020 to come to see him about getting more work, and the Transport for NSW staffer proposed 'jobs for kickbacks'. On the first occasion they met at a McDonald's in Pennant Hills in 2020 whereby Chellew said he would have brought along cash but could not recall to the inquiry the amount. Chellew said the amounts he handed to Helmy started as $10,000 or $20,000 in cash before the amount of work from Transport for NSW 'got crazy' during the COVID pandemic. He told the inquiry that, under the proposed arrangement from Helmy, the inflated rates on top of the work would be split 50:50 between them. Early on, Chellew said his concern was that if his company said 'no' to Helmy's proposal, they would not receive contracts. Chellew said he started cryptocurrency payments to Helmy from about 2021, and there was an occasion when he provided gold in 2023, adding that he often struggled to keep up the payments to Helmy because of the amount of work. The public inquiry, which is being presided over by ICAC chief commissioner John Hatzistergos, is part of an ICAC investigation known as Operation Wyvern. The hearings are expected to run for six weeks.
The Age
4 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Key ICAC witness put the rubbish out on a Sunday night. He hasn't been seen since
It is alleged that the Grafton company paid a total of $227,000 in cash to Helmy between 2020 and 2024, $60,000 worth of gold bullion nuggets in 2023 and cryptocurrency payments totalling about $8.97 million from 2021 to 2024. Ranken said it was alleged that Helmy, 38, engaged in a wide range of corrupt practices in exchange for benefits, which included ensuring Protection Barriers was the preferred contractor and approving the payment of falsely inflated invoices. He said the ICAC anticipated that there would be evidence that Helmy was assisted in his arrangement with Protection Barriers by two other Transport for NSW associates – Mukeshkumar Patel and David Liu – who allegedly received financial benefits. Last September, officers from ICAC, the NSW Police and NSW Crime Commission conducted raids on properties around the state. Items seized from Helmy's home included nine 100-gram gold bullion bars, five one-ounce gold bullion bars, three red bags containing 20 one-ounce gold bullion nuggets and $12,317 in cash. Ranken said evidence would show that the gold bullion seized from Helmy's home were consistent in appearance with gold bullion nuggets Chellew allegedly provided to him in 2023. In addition, the NSW Crime Commission seized $413,000 worth of cryptocurrency held by Helmy and the equivalent of $8 million in cryptocurrency in a Binance account in the name of his sister. It also seized a Maserati he purchased. The Crime Commission also seized property and assets from Chellew and his wife Meshel and their related entities worth more than $41 million, including $735,000 in cryptocurrency, a 2023 Lexus car worth about $160,000 and two 2024 Bentleys each worth about $500,000. In addition, they also seized multiple properties owned by the Chellews in NSW and Queensland worth $15 million. Under questioning at the first day of a public inquiry on Monday, Jason Chellew said he was asked by Helmy in about April or May 2020 to come to see him about getting more work, and the Transport for NSW staffer proposed 'jobs for kickbacks'. On the first occasion they met at a McDonald's in Pennant Hills in 2020 whereby Chellew said he would have brought along cash but could not recall to the inquiry the amount. Chellew said the amounts he handed to Helmy started as $10,000 or $20,000 in cash before the amount of work from Transport for NSW 'got crazy' during the COVID pandemic. He told the inquiry that, under the proposed arrangement from Helmy, the inflated rates on top of the work would be split 50:50 between them. Early on, Chellew said his concern was that if his company said 'no' to Helmy's proposal, they would not receive contracts. Chellew said he started cryptocurrency payments to Helmy from about 2021, and there was an occasion when he provided gold in 2023, adding that he often struggled to keep up the payments to Helmy because of the amount of work. The public inquiry, which is being presided over by ICAC chief commissioner John Hatzistergos, is part of an ICAC investigation known as Operation Wyvern. The hearings are expected to run for six weeks.
