Former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire fronts court over conspiracy charge

A former MP and ex of Gladys Berejiklian has fronted court for the first time over a conspiracy charge.

Former NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire outside the Downing Centre. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brendan Read

A former NSW MP and secret lover of then-premier Gladys Berejiklian has appeared in court after being charged with a conspiracy offence following a government inquiry.

Daryl Maguire was charged in November with one count of conspiracy to commit an offence.

Mr Maguire is alleged to have falsified documents between January 2013 and August 2015 when he was a state MP for Wagga Wagga.

The 63-year-old faced Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday for the first time since he was charged.

He sat at the front of the public gallery while his defence lawyer Jim Harrowell AM told the court the matter would be adjourned to March 21 for charges to be certified.

Former Wagga MP Daryl Maguire has fronted court for the first time since being charged with conspiracy to commit an offence. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brendan Read

Mr Maguire has been issued strict bail conditions and is not allowed to contact several Wagga businessmen and community leaders.

He has also had to surrender his passport to court, is not allowed to leave Australia and must tell police if his address changes.

Mr Maguire told media he was doing “well” outside court.

Outside court Mr Harrowell said he had only just received a copy of the brief of evidence.

“We haven’t actually seen the prosecution case just yet but the matter will come back to court,” he told media.

He said it is impossible to know what pleas will be entered at this stage.

“Evidence given at ICAC is not admissible, that’s the law,” Mr Harrowell said.

Documents tendered to the court states Mr Maguire allegedly conspired with a woman named Maggie Sining Logan to “cause to be furnished, for official purposes of the Commonwealth, documents in connection with applications for visas permitting non-citizens to remain in Australia”.

Former Wagga MP and ex-boyfriend of Gladys Berejiklian, Daryl Maguire, has been charged with a commonwealth offence.

The documents allegedly contained information which was “false or misleading in materials particular”.

The offences allegedly took place between January 2013 and August 2018. Mr Maguire resigned from parliament on August 3 of that year.

The charge comes after the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) launched Operation Keppel to investigate allegations Mr Maguire engaged in a “conduct that involved a breach of public trust by using his public office and the use of parliamentary resources to improperly gain a benefit for himself or others close to him”.

Mr Maguire served as the Liberal member for Wagga Wagga from 1999 to 2018.

The inquiry revealed he had been in a secret relationship with Ms Berejiklian, prompting her to resign from the role after ICAC revealed she was also being investigated.

The inquiry heard allegations Mr McGuire accepted cash for a visa scheme for Chinese nationals, ran a private business from his parliamentary office and concealed his involvement in that firm.

Mr Maguire told media he was “doing well” since being charged. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brendan Read

There were also allegations that Mr Maguire made promises to business clients that they would be able to get access to high levels of government.

One of the people Mr Maguire promised access to was Ms Berejiklian, who took the witness stand in October 2021.

Ms Berejiklian is not suspected of any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any offences.

ICAC said in December that it would take “further investigative steps” relating to the Keppel inquiry and confirmed earlier this month the investigation was still ongoing.