The former MP for Wagga Wagga Daryl Maguire could face criminal charges after the Independent Commission Against Corruption recommended he be referred to the Director for Public Prosecutions over misuse of his office while a member of NSW parliament.
But it could take up to two years for the DPP to assess the case against Maguire and to assemble the evidence needed, as they cannot simply take the evidence collected during Icac hearings.
Icac found in its report from Operation Keppel, released Thursday, that Maguire engaged in “serious corrupt conduct between 2012 and August 2018” in a number of ways.
It found he improperly used his office and parliamentary resources to benefit G8wayInternational, a company in which he had an interest as both a substantive director and as a financial beneficiary. The report found that in effect, he ran the business out of his office in Macquarie Street.
Icac also found he sought to “monetise his position as a member of parliament” in order to promote his own pecuniary interests instead of acting in the public interest.
In particular, Maguire was found to have misused his position by seeking, and receiving, a fee for introducing the party secretary of Liaoning province in China and the Liaoning delegation to then premier Barry O’Farrell at Parliament House in 2012.
The corruption watchdog also found he misused his role as a member of parliament to advance his own financial interests and those of his associates in connection with a cash-for-visas immigration scheme run from his office.
He was also found to have misused his role as chair of the NSW Parliament Asia Pacific Friendship Group to advance his own financial interests, as well as the commercial interests of his associates, including members of the Shenzhen Asia Pacific Commercial Development Association.
In terms of land deals, Maguire was found to have agreed with a councillor from Canterbury council, Michael Hawatt, to share a commission that would be paid by developers who were introduced to other developers in Canterbury, who had sites with approvals.
Another deal involved similar arrangements for a commission for introducing Maguire’s client Country Garden to another developer who had a site in Camellia, an industrial precinct earmarked for redevelopment, Icac said.
Maguire also promised to make representations to government officials who could assist in relation to planning issues as part of those arrangements, Icac said.
Icac found he deliberately failed to disclose his position in G8wayInternational or the pecuniary benefits received from its activities in the pecuniary interest register. Icac said the corrupt conduct could amount to misconduct in public office, an offence which can result in substantial jail time.
Icac’s recommendations will now be assessed by the DPP, which, unlike Icac, is bound by the rules of evidence and must consider whether the evidence can be obtained afresh and is admissible in court.
Icac also highlighted possible offences under the Icac Act arising from Maguire attempting to delete emails and his associates destroying documents.
Maggie Wang, his associate in the visas scheme, has been recommended for charges relating to giving false evidence and for destroying documents.
Phillip Elliott, a former director of Wagga Wagga RSL, a friend of Maguire and a business partner in G8way International, has also been recommended for charges. The recommendations include misleading Icac and destruction of evidence as well as one or more offences of misconduct in public office, either as a principal in the second degree or as a participant in a joint criminal enterprise.
Maguire initially came to the attention of Icac when he was caught on phone taps talking to Hawatt about development opportunities for Country Garden, a Chinese property developer, and possible commissions as part of Operation Dasha, which was investigating allegations of corrupt conduct at the inner-west Sydney council.
Maguire’s involvement led to a second inquiry, Operation Keppel, which then involved the then premier Gladys Berejiklian. Sensationally, during that second inquiry, it was revealed that Maguire and the former premier were in a “close personal relationship” and that their private phone calls had been caught on tape.
Maguire resigned from parliament in 2018 after the Operation Dasha hearings revealed some of his alleged dealings. Further details of his activities while an MP were revealed during the first round of hearings in Operation Keppel.
Berejiklian resigned in late 2021 after Operation Keppel was extended to include a reference about whether she had breached the public trust over failing to disclose the relationship, report Maguire to Icac and over two grants to the seat of Wagga.
In November last year Maguire was charged with criminal conspiracy over an alleged visa fraud under way while he was sitting in the NSW parliament. He is accused of conspiring with migration agent Maggie Sining Logan between January 2013 and August 2015 and that the scheme was run from his parliamentary office.
Earlier this week Maguire’s solicitor, Jim Harrowell, asked Magistrate Susan Horan to adjourn the matter to give his client time to peruse a 43,500-page report produced by crown prosecutors earlier this month.
Maguire has not yet entered a plea to the charges.
However, Harrowell said outside the court: “My client denies that he’s behaved in a corrupt way.”
Maguire was also charged earlier this month with giving false and misleading evidence to Icac during the earlier Operation Dasha inquiry.
The Icac recommended the DPP lay criminal charges against Maguire over denials he made during his evidence on 13 July 2018.
Maguire initially denied ever doing business with the former councillor Hawatt or seeking payment for brokering a deal on behalf of a Chinese property developer.
However, after taped calls were played to the commission, he admitted to pursuing Hawatt on behalf of the company Country Garden and seeking a dividend if the developers invested in a $48m project in Canterbury.
If convicted, Maguire could face a maximum penalty of five years behind bars.
