AFP commander raided, suspended in contracts-for-mates probe

The Australian Federal Police is embroiled in a contracts-for-mates controversy amid revelations that a high-ranking AFP official is under investigation for improperly awarding contracts to private companies controlled by former senior special forces veterans.

The AFP officer at the centre of the scandal is Commander Anthony Fox, a respected veteran policeman who has served in the federal police’s most sensitive divisions, including counter-terrorism and its undercover operations unit. A second senior police officer is also facing scrutiny.

AFP commander Anthony FoxCredit: ABC

There is no suggestion that Fox is guilty of any offence or is proven to have engaged in any wrongdoing, and no charges have been laid.

Suspicions over his handling of AFP contracts led to a raid on his family home in Canberra in early June and his immediate suspension from his role pending the investigation.

Three law enforcement sources, who spoke to this masthead on the condition of anonymity, have confirmed that a small team of AFP internal investigators is intensively scrutinising Fox’s handling of procurement matters.

Another federal police source, also speaking anonymously to discuss confidential information, said the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) had been called in by the AFP as an investigation partner. Under its legislation, the NACC can only start an investigation into serious or systemic alleged corruption.

The contracts under scrutiny involve firms linked to former special forces veterans with whom Fox is believed to have had a personal relationship. Fox oversees counter-terrorism investigations in his job at the AFP.

They include a contract awarded by the AFP in 2022 for $79,000 to a Brisbane firm run by an ex-SAS officer. Among the lines of inquiry are whether Fox appropriately disclosed any conflicts of interest, the police sources said.

The contract was issued following a limited rather than open tender, meaning the AFP did not invite multiple firms to compete for the work. Limited tenders can involve a single company being handed a contract, but must be worth less than $80,000.

Contract documents reveal the contract in question was for the “provision of strategic planning consultation” and that the AFP outsourced the work because the requisite “specialised or professional skills” were not available within the agency.

Senior Canberra lawyer and former veteran federal police officer David Healey, who is representing Fox, said his client denied all wrongdoing.

He described Fox as a “highly experienced, long-serving and respected officer within law enforcement and national security” who “vigorously denies these allegations”.

Contracting within the highly lucrative and secretive defence and national security sectors has been linked to several scandals exposed by this masthead, including the Michael Pezzullo affair and a separate controversy involving Canberra consulting firm Synergy 360 and ex-Coalition minister Stuart Robert.

In defence and national security, it is not uncommon for officials to move between the public and private sectors, creating conflicts of interest that Commonwealth procurement laws dictate must be disclosed and carefully managed to avoid cronyism or corruption.

Pezzullo was sacked as Home Affairs secretary in November after this masthead revealed not only his meddling in Coalition politics, but his decision to award a $79,000 sole source contract to a Canberra firm while failing to disclose it was directed by his friend.

In an unrelated scandal, Synergy 360’s owner, David Milo, an ex-British military officer, controversially used his network in the Australian defence and national security arena, along with his close friendship with Stuart Robert, to attempt to win Commonwealth contracts for the firm and its clients.

The Synergy 360 revelations sparked multiple inquiries, including a parliamentary committee investigation, and led to the referral of Robert and Milo to the NACC.

The AFP declined to answer questions about the Fox inquiry when contacted this week.

The AFP has also refused to say why Fox was raided and suspended, stating only that “the AFP does not comment on internal processes relating to individual members”.

Since its inception last July, the NACC has prioritised investigations targeting conflicts of interest involving government procurement. It does not comment on ongoing cases and there is no indication it has launched an investigation into the Synergy scandal.

But federal police sources said the NACC had been briefed on the allegations by the AFP, whose internal affairs detectives are probing the case and led the raids on Fox’s home.

Fox is the highest-ranking officer to be targeted with overt police action by the AFP’s internal affairs unit since the suspension of a now former AFP deputy commissioner in 2019.

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