Dragracer admits a cash ‘sling’ to Botany Bay Council’s former CFO to secure work at Sydney Airport
A DRAGRACER has admitted paying a “sling” to Botany Bay Council’s former CFO Gary Goodman to secure work for his businesses at Sydney Airport.
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A DRAGRACER has admitted paying a “sling” to Botany Bay Council’s former CFO Gary Goodman to secure work for his businesses at Sydney Airport.
Zoran Gajic, director of Cube D & C and Hyland, said he loaned a couple of hundred thousand dollars to Mr Goodman over a period of time and believed the only way he could recover the money was to submit false invoices to the council.
“My business was trying to recover money we were owed,” Mr Gajic told the Independent Commission Against Corruption which is investigating claims Mr Goodman defrauded at least $4.2 million between 2009 and 2015 from the council while he was chief financial officer.
Mr Gajic said there were other arrangements between the pair where he obtained car parts from Mr Goodman’s business Gas Motorsport that he did not pay for and a Mazda RX-7 sports car worth $45,000.
“If he put in an engine then I blew it up, he would provide another engine,” Mr Gajic said. “Some (cash) would be repaid with the car. I was chasing some money and he said: ‘Put in an invoice to cover it.”
Counsel assisting the inquiry Murugan Thandaraj SC said there were telephone intercepts of Mr Goodman asking for $2000 “immediately” even though Mr Gajic said he was in Hornsby and it would take him a few hours.
“He always wanted money,” Mr Gajic said.
Under questioning, Mr Gajic admitted that Mr Goodman told him he had a secured a large contract at Sydney Airport and he agreed to pay Mr Goodman a “sling” to secure work for his company.
Mr Gajic said the pair met at Gas Motorsport at Wetherill Park which builds and repairs sports cars used for drag racing.
“I purchased a race car and I got him to put an engine in and do all the engine work,” Mr Gajic said. “After about two years we started talking about work.
“He approached me and said: ‘Do you want some work, we (the council) want some work done.”
Mr Goodman made his first appearance at the hearing, which is slated to go for three weeks, on Monday when he appeared on crutches after having his left big toe amputated at Liverpool Hospital.
Mr Gajic said he supplied labour and supplies to the council through his father’s company Speedy Ceiling and Partitioning, which had up to 300 employees, and was initially lodging legitimate invoices to the council’s business unit for maintenance work at the airport.
But after a while, Mr Goodman started asking for loans and at one point owed Mr Gajic a “couple of hundred thousand dollars” which is when the former CFO suggested putting in fake or inflated invoices.
The invoices were approved by either Mr Goodman or his on-off lover, clerical assistant Marny Baccam, who worked in the council’s business unit.
Numerous contractors have told the inquiry they lodged false or inflated invoices which were paid by the council after being urged to by Mr Goodman who owed them large sums of money.
ICAC has heard Aleska Subeski submitted receipts of $1.8 million through Jovane Pty Ltd, phone supplier Sam Alexander claimed $733,000 over three years and Ms Baccam created false invoices totalling $195,000 from her company Ari Landscape which did no work for the council.
Mr Thandaraj told mechanic Joe Freitas his company Elias & Son Smash Repair lodged receipts of $2 million over several years including three receipts on the same day for work on the same vehicle while company Gardens 2 Envy was heard to be lodging receipts of $18,000 a week.
The inquiry continues.
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