The man accused of receiving kickbacks while chief of staff to Northern Territory minister Bess Price has been "lying through his teeth" to cover up soliciting bribes from a travel agent, his corruption trial has heard.
Paul Mossman has pleaded not guilty in the NT Supreme Court to five counts of corruptly receiving a benefit, relating to allegedly free and discounted flights in return for giving Latitude Travel more than $300,000 in exclusive government contracts.
Mossman, a former adviser to ex-chief minister Adam Giles, allegedly went on a trip to Kuala Lumpur, took his son to New York and his daughter to Sydney between 2013 and 2014.
Crown prosecutor David Morters said Mossman sent "wink wink, nudge nudge" emails to the company's owner, Xana Kamitsis, flagging new business opportunities and hinting he wanted to go on holidays to Bali and the Philippines.
One email from Mossman to Ms Kamitsis read: "Things seem to be settling into a pattern re: travel. I will email you soon for a break for ME too (smiley face)."
"Those trips were all kickbacks for the enormous advantages you were bestowing on Ms Kamitsis," Mr Morters said in his closing statement.
"The acceptance of these gifts was a bribe."
Mossman denied the travel agent was trying to curry favour, saying she offered discounted flights to New York for his son Nathanial because he was worried about leaving the boy, who was at risk of self harm, behind.
Mossman said the pair had been friends for more than a decade and he had started confiding in Ms Kamitsis in 2012 about his son's mental health issues.
But an email sent from Ms Kamitsis in 2013 revealed she didn't know Nathanial's age or that Mossman even had a daughter, highlighting "glaring inconsistencies" in his story, the prosecution said.
"He was lying through his teeth," Mr Morters said.
The senior public servant claimed the discounted flights were loans he was "stupidly slack" about paying back, or were never charged despite him handing over his credit card details.
Mossman claimed he was a struggling single parent who "wasn't flush for funds".
"In hindsight I would have done things differently for sure," he said.
But the former high-ranking government staffer, who earned $190,000 per year, could have readily repaid Ms Kamitsis if he wanted, Mr Morters said.
The Crown said Mossman repaid some money for the trips "within hours" of being contacted by police in 2015.
"His actions demonstrate he knew he had done the wrong thing," Mr Morters.
