Ronney Oueik hires bureaucrat who referred him to ICAC
He was the bureaucrat who referred his own council’s mayor to the ICAC. But Glenn Francis has found a new job — working for Ronney Oueik — the very man he referred to the corruption watchdog. The move has left former Auburn councillors “gobsmacked”.
NSW
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The man who referred Auburn Council mayor and property developer Ronney Oueik to the Independent Commission Against Corruption now has a job spruiking apartments for the man he dobbed in just three years ago.
Former Auburn Council executive manager of planning Glenn Francis was the most important planning witness at the 2016 public inquiry into the sacked Auburn Council and former deputy mayor Salim Mehajer.
But Mr Francis fell sick when he was due to give evidence publicly and when he got into the witness stand three months later in August 2016, he “refused to answer a number of questions on the ground that the answer might incriminate him”, according to Auburn Council Public Inquiry Commissioner Richard Beasley SC.
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Unlike a royal commission, the inquiry did not have the power to compel witnesses to give evidence.
Three years later Mr Francis has been employed as a town planner and contractor for Mr Oueik on his 157-apartment development at 9-19 Mary St, Auburn and at least two other developments.
“I was gobsmacked when I saw him working for Ronney,” former Auburn councillor Tony Oldfield said.
“He has got no other choice as it would be very difficult for him to get another job in council. As far as his career is concerned, Ronney is it.”
There is no suggestion Mr Francis or Mr Oueik are involved in any illegal activity.
There was no adverse finding against Mr Oueik by the ICAC and there was no formal investigation by the ICAC into this matter. Mr Francis told the Auburn City Council Public Inquiry about the referral.
Mr Francis appeared personally in front of the Cumberland Planning Panel July 24 and October 9 on behalf of Mr Oueik’s Rolz Group development company.
A panel — including some of his former employees — grilled him on the development’s excessive height and design flaws, including bedrooms sharing a common wall with the living areas of adjoining units.
The development is awaiting final approval.
Mr Francis failed to return calls from The Sunday Telegraph but Mr Oueik said his contractor “is a smart boy”.
“The best thing to come out of the inquiry is Glenn working for me,” Mr Oueik, who is the director of at least 23 property development companies, said.
“Politicians go into private companies after their careers all the time. So what if I have given him a job?”
In 2006 when Mr Oueik was a councillor and Mr Francis was the manager of development assessment on council, Mr Oueik’s tradesmen installed kitchen cabinets worth $2000 in Mr Francis’ home.
The Auburn City Council Public Inquiry heard Mr Oueik refused Mr Francis’ repeated attempts to pay him.
Mr Francis referred the matter to ICAC around May 2016 — ten years after the incident and shortly before he gave evidence in private session to the Auburn council inquiry.
Mr Oueik declined to comment on why he’s employed someone who has referred him to ICAC.
In 2017, Auburn Council Public Inquiry Commissioner Richard Beasley SC said in his final report that: “The evidence does not support what would be the serious finding that the circumstances surrounding the installation of kitchen cabinets in his home influenced Mr Francis in the performance of his professional obligations and duties”.
Mr Oueik was the Liberal candidate for Auburn in the March 2015 state election.
He campaigned with then premier Mike Baird and missed out on a seat in NSW Parliament by 4527 votes.
In August 2015 Salim Mehajer held his lavish wedding and by February 2016 Mike Baird had sacked Auburn Council and appointed an administrator.
Mr Francis was also the council officer who signed the occupation certificate for Mr Oueik’s apartment block at 14-22 Water St.
This was the apartment block that lost its roof during a storm in January 2016.
Mr Francis told the inquiry he failed to follow procedure by obtaining a relevant building certificate before issuing the final occupation certificate.
Mr Beasley found this was most likely an “honest mistake”.
Originally published as Ronney Oueik hires bureaucrat who referred him to ICAC
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