The bundles of cash, sparkling water and the handover at a Sydney aquarium

An allegedly corrupt Transport for NSW official pocketed a $50,000 cash bribe at a Sydney aquarium in return for work at inflated prices, an inquiry has heard, before telling his alleged right-hand man that his brain was “starting to hurt from too much money”.

In his 14th day in the Independent Commission Against Corruption witness box, sacked transport official Ibrahim Helmy was grilled about his allegedly improper dealings with safety barriers company Roadverge, which was awarded contracts worth $25 million between April 2020 and September 2024.

The corruption inquiry heard on Thursday that Helmy met Roadverge’s director Stephen Millington at the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium in Darling Harbour on May 14, 2021, where he received a $50,000 cash kickback.

A text exchange between Helmy and Peter Le, his alleged co-conspirator at the transport agency, about the meeting where he had “just got some juicy cash payment[s]” was aired at the inquiry.

“My brain is starting to hurt from too much money,” he told Le.

Helmy also expressed his disbelief over the meeting location, and said: “Wtfffff is this working coming to. The things we do to make it work.”

Le agreed, and said an aquarium was a “very weird place to meet”.

Helmy accepted the proposition made by ICAC counsel assisting Rob Ranken, SC, that he had misreported to Le the amount of money received. Helmy confirmed that despite detailing the full $50,000 on his personal spreadsheet, he told Le he only collected $15,000.

The inquiry previously heard on Monday that Helmy was handed a $243,000 cash bribe by a contractor at a cafe in the Southern Highlands in January 2023, before later texting a mate to tell him he “only got 20K” in $50 notes.

The ICAC is investigating allegations Helmy was the mastermind behind corrupt relationships with nine companies that were paid at least $343 million in contracts by Transport for NSW. He is accused of pocketing $11.5 million in kickbacks – including bundles of cash and gold bullion – from the contractors in return for their being awarded the work on the state’s roads.

A spreadsheet on Helmy’s computer, shown to the inquiry on Thursday, showed his detailed records of the amounts and dates of every payment he received from Millington.

According to his personal ledger, Helmy pocketed $250,000 in exchange for inflating all work awarded to Millington’s company Roadverge by $4.1 million.

Helmy and his alleged right-hand man Le also engaged in a text exchange on the same day he met Millington, where the pair complained about having to pay for contractors’ meals at kickback meetings.

“I had pizza and it was good ... but I paid for it and paid for his meal too,” Helmy said.

“Wtf kind of service is this ... Do these wages [sic] know who we are,” Le replied, to which Helmy responded: “We pay for their stupid meals ... He even ordered 2 sparkling waters.”

Helmy denied Ranken’s proposition that they were “complaining”, and retorted: “Do you understand what a joke is?”

After four months on the run from police, Helmy was discovered by detectives hiding in a cupboard in a unit in south-western Sydney on September 26. He remains in custody apart from his appearances at the ICAC inquiry.

On top of cryptocurrency, the ICAC investigators also seized a Maserati, gold bars and nuggets, and $12,317 in cash at his Merrylands home.

The public inquiry into the kickbacks is part of an ICAC investigation known as Operation Wyvern. It is the fourth into corruption in procurement processes at Transport for NSW since 2019.

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