Leighton’s Sasse describes $15m ‘unlawful’ payment to Senate

A Senate committee on bribery has heard Primary Health CEO Peter Gregg signed the payment while at Leighton.

Primary Health Care chief executive Peter Gregg at a Finance and Treasury association conference at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne.

Primary Health Care chief executive Peter Gregg, in his former role as a Leighton Holdings executive, signed off on an “unlawful” $15 million payment to a Dubai consultant, a former co-worker on Friday told a Senate committee into foreign bribery.

Under parliamentary privilege former Leighton executive Stephen Sasse also claimed the Australian Securities and Investments Commission had told him it was planning on charging Mr Gregg over “false accounting” in relation to the payment.

Such offences carrying a jail term of up to two years.

Mr Gregg strenuously denied the claims yesterday, labelling them “baseless accusations”, and said no regulatory authority had told him they had suspicions over any laws relating to bribery or corruption.

“No regulatory authority has stated to Mr Gregg that they have formed the view that he has acted in breach of any other civil or criminal law,” he said in a statement via his lawyer.

“No regulatory authority has stated to Mr Gregg that they propose top proceed with a civil or criminal action.”

The listed Primary Health Care declined to comment on the case yesterday.

The Australian Federal Police and Australian Securities and Investments Commission have been criticised for progressing slowly in their investigations into alleged foreign bribery by Leighton’s foreign arm, Leighton International, between 2008 and 2012.

Fronting the Senate Economics References Committee yesterday, Australian Federal Police acting deputy commissioner Ian McCartney said a substantial movement in the case was expected very soon, but declined to comment further.

Representatives of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said the Leighton bribery investigation was a “major matter” for the agency and it had been investigating the matter since March 2014.

Mr Sasse yesterday told the Senate committee Leighton had forced him out of the company after he in 2012 questioned substantial retirement benefits paid to former chief executive Wal King.

He alleged Leighton International’s board failed to act on whistleblower concerns regarding corruption between 2008 and 2012.

The AFP was also quizzed yesterday over whether it would take any action over the Nine Network’s involvement in the high-profile botched child abduction attempt in Lebanon, after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier in the morning told Sydney’s 2SM radio station that law enforcement agencies here would “no doubt” be taking an interest in the scandal.

Mr McCartney said the AFP was not investigating the matter, and it had not received briefs in relation to it from the government or elsewhere and considered it largely a matter for authorities in Lebanon.

“We have seen the reports (but) we haven’t received a referral in relation to that matter and from what I understand it’s with the Lebanese authorities and it’s still an active investigation,” Mr McCartney said.

He said if the AFP were to take any action on the matter it would first have to establish whether it had any jurisdiction and then approach Lebanon.

“We would have to engage the Lebanese authorities because the offence has actually occurred in Lebanon, it hasn’t occurred in Australia.”