“He was obviously chasing us for money,” Lack replied.
The inquiry was also played several audio recordings of phone conversations in 2024 between Helmy and Lack in which the then-Transport for NSW official discussed ways Lack Group could gain work.
In one case, they discussed work in Wollongong being taken away from one company and issued to another, before being awarded to Lack Group.
Questioned by Rankin, Lack accepted that Helmy was continuing to look for ways to help Lack Group gain work from Transport for NSW in 2024. The inquiry heard that the number of work orders that Transport for NSW issued to Lack Group increased to 239 in 2023, from 89 a year earlier.
Pressed by Rankin that he knew that Helmy was favouring Lack Group because he was paying him, Lack responded: “No, I wasn’t paying him for favourable treatment.”
It has previously been alleged that Lack Group was awarded about $50 million of work from March 2023 to June this year as a result of corrupt dealings with Helmy.
While he had known of Helmy since 2014, Lack said he was first approached directly in about 2021 by him in a phone call to discuss his company’s capacity to carry out upcoming work. He confirmed that he understood Helmy’s role at Transport for NSW was in the procurement of work orders for road work.
Lack, whose traffic control business is based at Burley Heads on the Gold Coast, said Helmy had wanted to speak about work for Indigenous-owned companies when they first met in Sydney in March 2023.
He said Helmy did not ask for cash or other financial benefits at the initial meetings, but at one in May 2024 he showed him a spreadsheet indicating that Lack Group owed him about $400,000.
“[Helmy said] this is all the work you have done [for Transport for NSW] and what am I going to get out of this?” Lack told the hearing.
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“I basically just rejected it and that was the end of the meeting.”
While he said he was “shocked” by Helmy’s demands to effectively pay a bribe, Lack conceded that he did not report it to Transport for NSW.
At an earlier meeting in November 2023, Lack said Helmy told him he could issue work orders for traffic control equipment which would not end up being required for a particular job.
At that meeting, Lack said Helmy told him he would have to “get something out” of that arrangement but said he declined it because “it is not the right way of doing business”.
“He wasn’t too happy,” Lack said of Helmy’s response to his rejection.
Helmy, 38, is alleged to have pocketed $11.5 million in kickbacks over 15 years from contractors in return for them being awarded work. He failed to appear before the ICAC in May and police have a warrant out for his arrest.
Lack said he last spoke to Helmy before September 2024, when police conducted raids on Helmy’s home, seizing gold bullion bars, thousands of dollars in cash and millions in cryptocurrency.
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