Former NSW Transport staffer Ibrahim Helmy asked contractor to delete email ‘because its wrong’: ICAC

A former Transport for NSW staffer who spent months on the run has admitted to asking a contractor to delete emails over an allegedly improper payment of $190,000 “because its wrong”, the anti-corruption commission has been told. ICAC is probing allegations Ibrahim Helmy, 38, masterminded a kickback scheme involving Transport for NSW contractors between 2012 and 2024. He allegedly received about $11.5m in total financial benefit from contracts worth at least $343m while employed primarily within procurement at TfNSW’s regional branch. Mr Helmy spent four months on the run before police found him hiding in a cupboard at a rental home in Lakemba in Sydney’s west last month. He admitted before ICAC on Tuesday to receiving payments of money and other benefits from a range of contractors across multiple panels he was responsible for. Returning to the stand on Thursday, Mr Helmy admitted to inflating invoices to Complete LineMarking and would then “split the difference” between the originally intended invoice amount and the inflated amount. Counsel assisting Rob Ranken SC recounted emails before the commission in which Mr Helmy agreed to an initial split of 70-30 per cent – though, Mr Helmy denied the lion’s share went to him. Later on, the alleged arrangement shifted to 50-50 per cent. In one email to Complete LineMarking director Peco Jankulovski, Mr Helmy said the split was “approximately $112k me” and “$78k you” and suggested “maybe delete this email as well”, the hearing was told. Asked why he asked Mr Jankulovski to delete the email, Mr Helmy told Mr Ranken “because it’s wrong” and because it would be “evidence of an improper arrangement”. Much of Thursday morning’s hearing centred on Mr Helmy’s dealings with Complete Linemarking. Mr Helmy told the commission that he could not recall who he had allegedly received cash from, stating: “I don’t recall the faces at the time …. I don't remember locations either.” In later emails, Mr Jankulovski asked Mr Helmy to “not go over too much on these jobs. “I still don’t know how we are going to get the funds out.” “Wasn’t it that the amount by which you were inflating the invoices was creating difficulties in terms of how they were going to be able to pay you your share, correct?” Mr Raken asked. “Yes,” Mr Helmy replied. By 2020, messages from Mr Helmy to TfNSW Procurement and Contracts Officer Peter Lee showed the relationship had soured. One message to Mr Lee, who has admitted to ICAC to receiving money from Mr Helmy, stated: “I want to f**k off Complete LineMarking. “He’s been a burden and still hasn’t paid up.” Mr Helmy suggested telling Mr Jankulovski he no longer had access to an inbox handling tenders, which the hearing was told he later accessed and “cleaned out”. “I end up having to do his stupid submission, and he does nothing LOL,” Mr Helmy said in a subsequent message. He was also grilled on his repeated use in messages of the word “penis”. In one message, Mr Helmy wrote “OK penis”. Asked what that meant, he said: “Maybe corrected from Peter, I’m not sure. Yeah, that was an autocorrect.” Mr Ranken pressed him on his repeated use of the word, stating: “So, it’s not about an autocorrect, is it? “If we could go back … you see the very first message says: ‘So Peter’. It doesn’t say ‘so penis’, so there wasn’t any autocorrect.” Under continued questioning, Mr Helmy admitted use of the term was “just some joke”. He also admitted before the hearing to keeping a record of “improper arrangements” on spreadsheets. The alleged inflated invoices included works related to the M4 motorway and the Northern Rd in Sydney’s southwest. The hearing will continue on Thursday. Transport worker received crypto, cash Mr Helmy told the inquiry on Tuesday that about 90 per cent of the benefits he received were in the form of cryptocurrency. He alleged those payments were from Protection Barriers, which TfNSW paid about $100m to between April 2020 and September 2024. Mr Helmy is alleged to have received gold bars, gift cards from Direct Traffic, and a free shift of traffic control and concrete for a friend. The hearing also canvassed when Mr Helmy claims to have first started receiving payments about when he was finishing his graduate program with TfNSW. “Do you agree that at least by December 2012, you were doing things in respect of an improper arrangement with Complete Linemarking that related to the inflation of payment claims?” Mr Ranken asked, referring to the line-marking panel contractor that was paid $12m by TfNSW over three years. “Yes, I accept,” Mr Helmy replied. “And at that time you were still part of the graduate program?” Mr Ranken continued. “Yes.” No one has been charged with any criminal offences in relation to the probe. Transport for NSW staff and contractors previously gave evidence before the commission.