Former Casey Council Mayor grilled by IBAC

Former Casey Council Mayor Sam Aziz, who is embroiled in a corruption investigation, confirmed he handed over $600,000 cash to developer John Woodman.

Former Casey Mayor Sam Aziz at the IBAC hearing.

Former Casey Councillor Sam Aziz has been accused of lying to Victoria’s anti-corruption commission about money he “invested’’ with the developer at the centre of a corruption probe.

The former Casey Mayor on Monday told an IBAC hearing he had given $600,000 in a suitcase to developer John Woodman in a high return, “mezzanine finance’’ arrangement.

But IBAC commissioner Robert Redlich and counsel assisting Michael Tovey QC, said Mr Aziz’s evidence contradicted an amount of $370,000 he told a private hearing last October he gave the developer.

“You lied about that amount you gave Mr Woodman,’’ Mr Redlich said.

Committing perjury before IBAC carries penalties of up to 15 years in jail.

Mr Redlich said Mr Aziz’s evidence was “totally at odds with what he told the commission last year’’.

“Over and over again you said quite explicitly that the only money you gave Mr Woodman was $370,000,’’ he said.

But Mr Aziz on Monday confirmed he handed over $600,000 cash – “everything that I had access to’’ to Mr Woodman at a meeting at Sandhust Golf Club in 2018.

“I took a suitcase that I use for travelling because that was the only thing I could think of that could contain that much cash,’’ he said.

Developer John Woodman leaves IBAC hearings. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“I took it to the bank manager and said ‘can you please once the money is counted, put it in here?’’’.

Mr Aziz rejected questioning from Mr Tovey the $370,000 claim was “a blatant lie’’ designed to provide “false assertions in the family court’’.

Mr Aziz said Mr Woodman paid him $25,000 a month from December 2018 as a “consultant” on a Little River development, at the same time he was voting on planning decisions as a councillor.

He was “completely unaware’’ Mr Woodman also paid his wages in a four month governance consultancy gig for Spicer Thoroughbreds.

Mr Aziz was grilled on payments of more than $180,000 and $78,000 sent to the bank accounts of his mum and then fiance from Mr Woodman’s business, which were then transferred to his own account.

He was also asked about a series of random cash deposits made into his account, including more than $102,000 in a short period of time in 2014.

“None of the cash deposits had anything to do with Mr Woodman,’’ Mr Aziz said.

But Mr Tovey said Mr Aziz, who is expected to be interviewed for much of this week, would need to explain the money trail.

“I will later be saying that you took cash from wherever you could find it,’’ he said.

Mr Tovey described sections of Mr Aziz’s testimony as “fantasy”

The hearing was told Mr Aziz, after giving evidence to IBAC last year, met former Liberal State MP and Casey councillor Lorraine Wreford and told her “we’ve got to get our story straight’’.

He denied the conversation but said Mr Wreford sometimes delivered returns of up to $15,000 from Mr Woodman for the $600,000 he invested.

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