Surveillance photos emerge of Sam Aziz’s meeting with John Woodman at suburban Subway
Surveillance photos of Cr Sam Aziz and developer John Woodman’s secret suburban Subway meeting have emerged, with investigators revealing what they claim to have heard during the catch-up.
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Surveillance photos have emerged of embattled former mayor Sam Aziz and Ferrari-driving developer John Woodman having a secret meeting at a suburban Subway restaurant.
The pair were snapped together at the sandwich eatery in Skye on April 20 last year, where investigators allege they talked about their “friendship” and the early repayment of a $600,000 loan.
Mr Woodman on Thursday faced a fourth-straight day of grilling at anti-corruption hearings, where it was revealed he was called a “blood donor” by Cr Aziz and other City of Casey councillors.
Stunning allegations to emerge on Thursday included that:
MR Woodman entered into a “sham” contract that claimed Cr Aziz loaned him just $370,000, instead of the $600,000 wheeled into a meeting in a suitcase;
THE property developer and his political lobbyist, former Liberal MP Lorraine Wreford, used the code names “suitcase” and “package” to discuss payments to Cr Aziz;
MR Woodman boasted in covertly recorded phone calls about paying off Aboriginal leaders to ignore heritage claims; and
A CONSULTANT working with Mr Woodman’s “approval” drafted a motion and “script” for Cr Aziz to oppose a council recommendation.
The state’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission is probing allegations Cr Aziz received $900,000 from the Watsons developers director and his associated entities, but failed to declare a conflict when voting on related planning decisions.
In one case in March 2018, Cr Aziz moved a motion to reduce road reserve and open space in a Cranbourne West housing development linked to Mr Woodman’s son.
It was revealed on Thursday Ms Wreford sent Cr Aziz the message “WTF” after the motion was deferred. Cr Aziz replied they were “ambushed” and they needed to speak after the meeting.
Surveillance photos show Cr Aziz, Ms Wreford, Mr Woodman and another woman, alleged to be consultant Megan Schutz, in discussion two days later at the Sandhurst Club, a Casey function centre.
In another case, covert recordings of phone calls reveal Ms Schutz briefed councillors Aziz and Geoff Ablett on a council vote to defer the construction of a Cranbourne West intersection.
Cr Ablett is alleged to have received $330,000 from Mr Woodman or his associated entities.
Ms Schutz drafted and emailed to Cr Aziz an alternative motion and “script” urging council not to the delay construction at the junction of Evans and Hall roads.
The secret recordings also revealed Ms Schutz drafted a letter purporting to be from residents group, SCWRAG, supporting the construction.
After the meeting, Ms Schutz told Mr Woodman “we won”, but Cr Aziz “didn’t do what I asked him to do”.
“He’s an absolute fool that guy,” she said in the recorded phone call.
“The bloody ball was in the goalsquare for him … he’s just a dickhead.”
She later told Mr Woodman: “If Sam Aziz had just stuck to his f--kin’ script we wouldn’t have had the f--kery that we had tonight.”
Mr Woodman struggled to explain why he had such an interest in the issue.
But at one point he claimed it was because he had driven “up and down Hall Rd for many years”.
Although photos have emerged of Cr Aziz and Mr Woodman in two separate meetings, both have denied having a close relationship.
Cr Aziz, who remains bunkered down in Egypt, told the Herald Sun earlier this week that he never met Mr Woodman “with great frequency”.
“I think I met with Woodman once or twice throughout, or probably three times, throughout our entire knowledge of each other,” he said.
It comes as Woodman has been caught on tape boasting about paying off Aboriginal leaders so they turned a blind eye to heritage claims.
John Woodman was caught calling Aboriginal leaders “galahs” who were “on the take” in a series of covert recordings played to an anti-corruption hearing.
In an October 2018 phone call, he told Exford Waters landowner Bill Green that he would take $1000 to a meeting with an Aboriginal leader.
He said leaders of Aboriginal committees could be paid off to “entice” other members to approve cultural heritage management plans needed for developments
Responding to questions from Mr Green about “the Abos”, Mr Woodman said “all these people are desperate if you know what I mean ... for money”.
“I know he him well enough to be able to take a thousand dollars along for instance and give it to him,” he said.
Mr Woodman estimated during the call that his client might have to fork out $10,000 and claimed that the Aboriginal groups did not give a “rat’s arse” about preserving their ancestors’ heritage.
He described them as “as cunning as s---house rats”.
“They couldn’t give a rat’s arse about their ancestors, that’s just the greatest load of horseshit I’ve ever heard … bullshit.”
Mr Woodman denied that he typically paid off public officials or Aboriginal groups, saying he could “only think of one other occasion where we made direct communication with a community group”.
In a gotcha moment, a call in which Mr Woodman told another client that “you were able to pay them off” “in those days” was then played.
In the intercepted call to client Alf Marriott, he detailed $800 daily payments to Aboriginal “monitors” during excavation works at a Martha Cove development.
“They used to turn up at 9 o’clock, you ‘d give them $800 and they’d go away for the day,” he said.
Mr Woodman is facing a fourth straight day of questioning as IBAC probes corruption allegations engulfing him and former Casey Mayor Sam Aziz.
Earlier Mr Woodman has admitted to signing a “totally sham” contract with former suburban mayor, Sam Aziz.
The state’s anti-corruption commission has heard that Mr Woodman signed a contract with the former Casey Mayor to hold $600,000 on his behalf, and return it over time with interest.
But another contract was later written, under Mr Aziz’s “instructions”, to claim the deal was only worth of $370,000.
Under questioning, Mr Woodman admitted that the second contract was a sham.
“I wasn’t sure at the time that I signed this document … it was a fraud,” he said.
“Mr Aziz had given me the money to lend and it seemed to me that he wanted to change the document then.
“I didn’t believe that it was something that I should go into great detail or question of.”
Mr Woodman claimed he naively failed to ask Cr Aziz more questions about why the contract needed to be altered – a claim challenged by both counsel assisting Michael Tovey QC and IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich.
Mr Redlich questioned why Mr Woodman would not probe the circumstances, given he claimed to have had no “personal relationship” with Cr Aziz at the time.
The Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission has also heard that Mr Woodman used “code words” to describe “clandestine” cash payments to Cr Aziz.
Mr Woodman and his political lobbyist, former Liberal MP Lorraine Wreford, discussed the $2000 payments to Cr Aziz, which the developer said were interested payments.
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WhatsApp messages reveal the pair referred to the payments as “suitcase” and “package”.
But Mr Woodman denied that the codewords were used to mask the “clandestine” payments, or that Ms Wreford and Cr Aziz were acting like drug dealers.
“It was more of a jocular interpretation of what was to take place,” he said.
“It thought it was a regular interest payment between myself and Mr Aziz.
“The reference to suitcase or package was not meant to be a clandestine alternative to the word cash”.
He later added: “it goes back to the face that suitcases with cash in it is the most unusual (of) circumstances.”
The hearings continue.