Obeid does time but his family benefits from the proceeds of his crime

It beggars belief that Eddie Obeid, the former Labor state minister jailed for misconduct in public office, has gotten away with the proceeds of his crime.

The 81-year-old disgraced politician received $30 million from a corrupt coal mine deal and the Herald’s Kate McClymont reports the money has vanished and authorities are powerless to do a thing.

Moses Obeid (left), Ian Macdonald (centre) and Eddie Obeid (right). Credit: Fairfax Media

Obeid, his son Moses, 56, and former Labor mining minister Ian Macdonald, 76, were jailed in October 2021 over the deal that netted Obeid $30 million for a coal tenement on top of the family’s farm at Mount Penny in the Bylong Valley. He was sentenced to seven years for misconduct in public office in 2021 and is due to be released in August.

Obeid was paid 15 years ago and down through the years as he faced investigations and then jail, the money disappeared without trace – laundered through assets sales and complex family trusts set up in the names of Obeid, his wife Judy and their nine children – and authorities cannot find it.

Now, a second investigation into the viability of recovering what remains of the $30 million by the NSW Crime Commission has concluded that, due to the length of time, the destruction of records and the complexity of the Obeids’ use of myriad trusts and corporations, confiscation proceedings are unviable.

When Obeid was convicted of misconduct in public office in 2021, the commission revisited the 2015 investigation decision not to commence confiscation proceedings after legal advice at the time that “there were no reasonable prospects of success”.

Commissioner Michael Barnes said no new evidence had emerged to support overturning the earlier decision.“There is understandable public anger and a strong appetite to do all that is possible to
pursue this matter. It is hard to think of a more egregious breach of trust by a NSW Minister
of the Crown,” Barnes said. “Unfortunately missing financial records, the time that has elapsed since the criminal conduct occurred and the complex web of discretionary trusts used by the Obeid family to mix illegal and legitimate funds, means there was an accumulation of serious legal hurdles to overcome.”

The report said the first investigation in 2015 found against pursuing the money partly in the belief the Australian Taxation Office would absorb any available wealth. It also revealed that the latest decision was taken in the context of its negative impact on the commission’s ability to pursue other priorities with a higher chance of success.

Given the many authorities working on the Obeid matter, including the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the ATO and the NSW Crime Commission, it is passing strange how little thought appears to have been given on working together to recover the funds before they went missing.

There may be one positive outcome, however. A national working group, involving state and federal agencies, is looking at beneficial ownership disclosure obligations, including a Beneficial Trust Register that could hamper the future Obeids of this world.

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