Corrupt former MP Daryl Maguire to fight claims he lied to ICAC

A disgraced former MP who had a secret relationship with former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian will fight allegations he lied to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog.

A corrupt former MP who had a years-long secret relationship with former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is set to fight allegations he lied to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog.

Former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire has pleaded not guilty to giving false or misleading evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption during an investigation into the former Canterbury City Council in 2018.

During the probe, he denied having any business dealings with former councillor Michael Hawatt or asking to receive a financial benefit for brokering a property deal in Sydney.

However, recorded phone conversations led him to admit he had asked for a slice of the profits if the multimillion-dollar deal with a Chinese developer was finalised.

Former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl McGuire has pleaded not guilty to lying to ICAC. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Monique Harmer

Mr Maguire was charged with lying to ICAC last year after the anti-corruption watchdog recommended he be criminally prosecuted over the denials.

On Monday, Sydney Downing Centre Local Court was told the former MP would fight the charge during a hearing in February 2025.

The hearing is expected to run over three days in the Local Court.

The parties will iron out any pre-hearing issues during a two-day readiness hearing starting on December 10, the court was told.

Mr Maguire was not required to appear in court, where he was represented by his lawyer Jim Harrowell AM.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.

The former Wagga Wagga MP resigned from the NSW parliament in 2018 after ICAC launched a separate investigation into his conduct while in office.

The inquiry revealed he had been in a secret five-year “close personal relationship” with Ms Berejiklian.

She resigned from her position in September 2021 after ICAC announced it would investigate whether she breached the ministerial code of conduct.

The commission found in July 2023 that both Mr Maguire and Ms Berejiklian engaged in serious corrupt conduct.

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian and Mr Maguire dated for five years.

ICAC recommended charges be laid against Mr Maguire but not against the former premier.

Mr Maguire has pleaded not guilty to the subsequent charge of falsifying documents between January 2013 and August 2015 while he was in office.

Police allege the then-MP ran a cash-for-visas scheme with an immigration agent that involved payments worth tens of thousands of dollars.

He is expected to fight the charge in a trial in the NSW District Court in September next year.

Mr Maguire remains on bail.