Peter Bollas fronts court over corruption charge

A former Metro Trains manager was sacked after an IBAC inquiry received $30,000 in secret commissions from a cleaning company he issued contracts to.

Sacked Metro Trains executive Peter Bollas during a break in County Court proceedings.

A non-custodial sentence is on the cards for a Metro Trains senior executive who admitted receiving $30,000 in secret commissions in exchange for issuing contracts to a cleaning company.

Peter Bollas, 49, pleaded guilty in the County Court in Melbourne last November to one charge of receiving secret commissions and appeared for a plea hearing on Wednesday.

He is on bail and will be sentenced on May 15.

Bollas was among seven people charged as part of an investigation by the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) in late 2021, dubbed Operation Esperance, which looked into allegations that senior public officials improperly influenced the awarding of major contracts with V/Line and Metro.

Bollas, who was Metro’s head of fleet operational support, received $10,000 from cleaning contractor Transclean Facilities director George Haritos in May 2020 and $20,000 in July of that year.

Peter Bollas was Metro’s head of fleet operational support when he received $30,000 in secret commissions from Transclean.

Investigators found $59,950 in cash in a duffle bag under his bed in August 2020.

Haritos, his brother-in-law and Transclean shareholder Alex Kyritsis, Mr Kyritsis’ son Steven, company employee Maria Tsakpoulos, former V/Line chief executive James Pinder and Steven Collin are facing various charges stemming from the IBAC investigation.

They will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on June 24 for a commital hearing.

In County Court on Wednesday, Bollis’ lawyer Anthony Lewis advocated for a community corrections order on the basis of his client’s mental health and him caring for a child suffering “extreme difficulty”.

He said Bollis has been diagnosed with major depressive disorder with feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness and him going to jail would increase his risk of suicide and self-harm.

A bundle of character references tendered in court spoke about a family-oriented, dedicated, hardworking man who came before the court with an exemplary history, Mr Lewis submitted.

A report from Corrections deemed Bollis suitable for a non-custodial sentence.

Prosecutor Liam McAuliffe said offending in the way Bollas did struck at the heart of the community which expected to trust public officials to do their job properly.

He accepted jail would exacerbate Bollis mental health but said it could be properly treated in prison.

Judge Gerard Mullaly said he understood the time taken for the matter to be finalised but assured Bollas the court was moving as quickly as it could following the Covid pandemic.