Counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer has told the inquiry Michael O’Hara made “bogus” $5000 monthly payments to the Reformers, that were used to fund their agenda.
O’Hara is the first witness the ICAC is expected to hear from and is a prohibited donor. The ICAC heard that on June 18, 2018, the NSW Reformers account received a deposit of $25,000, with the description reading “Deposit Michael O’Hara, donate to Reformers”.
Dwyer said eight months later, on March 21, 2019, a further $15,000 was deposited in that account by O’Hara. These were later followed by monthly $5000 payments by Paslibdan Pty Ltd on O’Hara’s behalf, Dwyer said.
“The commission will receive evidence that sham invoices were again sent to Mr O’Hara, this time by Jean-Claude Perrottet, purporting to be for consulting services. That is, they were purporting to be for consulting services to Paslibdan for a monthly retainer of $5000, from September 2021 to December 2023. Jean-Claude Perrott received a total of $80,000.”
“To be clear, we anticipate submitting to the commission that the donations from both Catholic Schools NSW and Paslibdan constituted gifts within the meaning of the Electoral Funding Act, being dispositions of property made without consideration in money or money’s worth, or with inadequate consideration, in that they were made in purported payment of retainers for which no substantive services were provided, or which amounted to a sham.”