ICAC finds ex-RailCorp executive corrupt

An ex-RailCorp manager corruptly solicited and received cash from colleagues and contractors to help pay off his gambling-addicted daughter's debt.

Joseph Camilleri, leaves the ICAC in Sydney.

A NSW corruption watchdog has found an ex-RailCorp executive illegally took more than $500,000. (AAP)

A former senior RailCorp executive corruptly solicited and received more than half a million dollars from colleagues and contractors to help pay off his daughter's gambling debts.

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) also found on Monday that Joseph Camilleri's sister Carmen Attard, a Housing NSW employee, corruptly solicited and received another $44,000 from her colleagues.

Mr Camilleri, who was a senior manager at RailCorp at the time, had considerable influence over the completion of large-scale contracts and over staffing decisions.

From 2008, Mr Camilleri provided "large amounts" of his personal funds to his daughter Jessica Camilleri, who the commission was told had a "big gambling problem".

By early 2012 Mr Camilleri's personal wealth was exhausted, having already given his daughter about $1 million.

Over the next 12 months, he started soliciting money from RailCorp employees and contractors using various "outlandish and implausible stories" about his daughter's need for money, including that she had been a victim of identity theft and was involved in protracted litigation, the ICAC said.

In total, Mr Camilleri solicited and received about $638,000 from various RailCorp employees and contractors between February 2012 and February 2013.

Mr Camilleri and Ms Attard could now face prosecution over corruption, while Ms Camilleri faces possible prosecution over recruiting her father to destroy documents.

Ms Camilleri had given evidence that she had lied to her father about needing the money to pay for a court case she was involved in.

Mr Camilleri had told the ICAC he doubted his daughter's claims only when he learned of her gambling habit in December 2013 - well after he had been dismissed from RailCorp.

But the ICAC found that Mr Camilleri must have known of the real reason behind his daughter's debt problems when he was soliciting the money and that he made false representations to his colleagues and RailCorp contractors.

The commission said Mr Camilleri made "absurd" claims to people he solicited money from, including that his daughter had been the victim of identity theft and that they were prevented from talking about the case by Australia's spy agency ASIO.

The ICAC also found the following people had engaged in corrupt conduct: former RailCorp employee Saviour (Sam) Cassar; Kevin McCarthy, an employee of a RailCorp contractor; Anthony Courtman, an ex-employee of a RailCorp contractor; and Mark Ross-Smith, a former consultant to the state body.


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