Court action launched against Jason and Meshell Chellew after ICAC road safety raids
One of the top road safety companies in the state, which has received millions from the government, is at the centre of an ICAC investigation, after the NSW Crime Commission launched legal action.
NSW
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A couple whose company is at the centre of a major ICAC investigation into Transport for NSW procurement deals can be revealed, after legal action was launched by the NSW Crime Commission in a bid to seize millions of dollars worth of their assets.
Jason and Meshell Chellew are the founder and director of Protection Barriers Pty Ltd, a Grafton-based business which is one of the top road safety companies in the state and who have been awarded more than $110 million in tenders from Transport for NSW over the past decade for installing wire rope and steel guardrails on roadsides.
But in September the business’ head office just outside Grafton was raided, as part of an ICAC-led investigation into Transport for NSW procurement deals.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the secretive, yet highly powerful, NSW Crime Commission has now begun court proceedings against Mr and Mrs Chellew off the back of those ICAC-led raids.
Court action against the Chellews was launched in the NSW Supreme Court and is understood to relate to asset confiscation orders made by the NSWCC on close to $30 million in assets – including two matching Bentleys – which were seized at Protection Barriers during the raids.
The raids outside Grafton are understood to have subsequently been followed by search warrants carried out at homes in Sydney’s west, linked to Transport for NSW employees and their associates.
The Daily Telegraph previously reported at least one employee at Transport for NSW had been stood down pending the investigation.
Government records show Protection Barriers Pty Ltd has won two significant tender deals in recent years.
One of those contracts was initially set to see them paid $2.2 million for the “installation and maintenance [of] safety barrier at various locations within NSW” between 2016 and 2019.
But that contract was later boosted dramatically to see Protection Barriers paid a whopping $104 million to install and maintain further barriers for an additional six years, through to June 2025.
A second ongoing contract was set to see Protection Barriers paid $7.7 million to carry out the “installation and maintenance of safety barriers” as part of an unspecified project over a three-year period from July 1, 2024 through to June 30, 2027.
Despite founding the company, according to ASIC documents Mr Chellew has not been its director since 2021, when he handed over the official reins to his Filipino-born wife Meshell as the sole director.
In the weeks since those raids Protection Barriers has shut down its social media accounts and website, and its phone is now unanswered.
The Daily Telegraph does not suggest any wrongdoing on behalf of Protection Barriers Pty Ltd, or Mr and Mrs Chellew – but simply states that the search warrants occurred and court action has been launched.
The ICAC previously refused to comment on any investigation, as did Transport for NSW other than to say they would co-operate fully if required.