A fugitive NSW Government official who allegedly masterminded a web of corruption joked with another immigrant associate about taking millions of dollars from White Australians, a corruption probe has heard.
Ibrahim Helmy, 38, who has Egyptian, US and Australian passports, is the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant for failing to appear before the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s (ICAC) Operation Wyvern public inquiry into allegations against Transport for NSW (TfNSW) employees.
Helmy is accused of taking $11.5million in kickbacks from contractors working on roads across the state, and a hearing earlier this month was told about alleged WhatsApp message exchanges between him and a person identified in his phone as Pita.
During a discussion about allegedly receiving cash from a contractor, Pita wrote “I like White people giving us money”, and Helmy responded “Yeah, me too. It’s
like they’re giving us money to live in their country”, the inquiry heard.
The hearing was told that during another exchange Pita said “they are are all the same, making us money”, to which Helmy replied “that’s right. All bunch of Aussies” and “we’re here in their country taking their money”.
Helmy’s Chinese ex-girlfriend Katya Wang, a former TfNSW program governance and reporting officer, broke down in tears while confessing to the inquiry that she received red envelopes full of cash from Helmy, had detailed knowledge about his alleged corrupt activities and helped him on numerous occasions.
She gave evidence to the inquiry on Tuesday that Helmy had confided in her about his “corrupt schemes” as they were bushwalking during their first date in 2018, and on Wednesday claimed the cash he gave her made her feel “uncomfortable” and that she tried to give it back.
“I didn’t want the cash, I didn’t need money. It was improper money … He just wouldn’t take it back, he just said it’s for you,” she told the inquiry.
The pair’s six-year relationship came to an end in September, 2024.
Another Chinese TfNSW official, senior project engineer David Liu, faced the inquiry last week where he admitted working with Helmy and personally taking at least $110,000 in kickbacks from a road contractor.
Liu told a hearing on Thursday that he had borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars from colleagues to repay a debt he owed to a loan shark, and claimed his wife and mother had serious health issues, but conceded these factors did not excuse his actions.
Last month the inquiry heard that Helmy worked for TfNSW for 14 years, and between 2012 and 2024 allegedly developed corrupt relationships with companies who were paid at least $343 million by TfNSW, and allegedly received more than $11.5 million in cash, cryptocurrency and gold in return.
ICAC Counsel Assisting Rob Ranken SC told the inquiry it was anticipated there would be evidence that Helmy was assisted in his alleged corrupt arrangements by fellow TfNSW employees Peter Le, Mukeshkumar Patel, and Liu, while Wang and Helmy’s younger brother Mohammed Helmy were also named as persons of interest to the inquiry.
No criminal charges have been laid against any of the persons named in the inquiry.
The inquiry heard that Helmy attended a compulsory examination in September 2024 after being suspended from his role as Procurement Contract Engineer earlier that month.
He then attempted to leave Australia on a flight to Shanghai in December using a US passport in his name, but was stopped at Sydney Airport, brought before the Commission, and released on conditions.
Helmy was due to appear before ICAC on May 12 but failed to show up, and earlier had a request to travel to Egypt to look after his grandmother denied.
A family member told ICAC that Helmy “took the rubbish out on a Sunday night and did not return”, but Mr Ranken noted his family has not reported him missing.
“It is suspected Mr Helmy’s efforts to evade giving evidence before the Commission is in part because he may have received information about matters of interest to the Commission’s inquiries from another person or persons in breach of their non-disclosure obligations, which of itself is a matter of grave concern,” he said.
“While Mr Helmy’s precise whereabouts are presently unknown, we believe he remains in the jurisdiction and that individuals have been collaborating to conceal his whereabouts.”
“Active steps are being taken to locate him so that he may be brought before the Commission and answer questions about the matters under investigation. We expect it is only a matter of time before he is located, and we urge him to come forward of his own volition.”
During the hearing Mr Ranken alleged that Helmy rigged the processes by which contracts for roadworks were awarded by allegedly stacking tender panels, helping businesses he was in arrangements with write their tenders, sharing competitor pricing information, and modifying rival contractors’ submissions.
NSW Police said Helmy was known to frequent the suburbs of Merrylands and Guildford in Sydney’s west, and described him as “Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, about 175cm tall, of medium build and with black hair”.
Header image: Left, Ibrahim Helmy. Right, Kaya Wang (ICAC).
