The New South Wales government has ruled out former police commissioner Mick Fuller from taking a board role with horseracing body Racing NSW, following an ABC investigation.
The ABC revealed on Thursday Mr Fuller did not declare his co-ownership of racehorses to the government, in potential breach of anti-corruption rules.
Mr Fuller co-owned one of those horses, Mad Magic, with two wealthy businessmen who became embroiled in criminal investigations.
One of those co-owners, David Levy, owned a catering company that won a $3 million contract from the NSW Police Force in 2017, after Mr Fuller became commissioner.
Mr Fuller retired last month following five years in his $665,000-a-year role as the head of Australia's largest police force, after being headhunted by Racing NSW chief executive and Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V'landys.
Mr Fuller was quoted in Nine newspapers this week saying he had his "hat in the ring" for the Racing NSW board — an appointment that requires state cabinet approval.
But NSW Racing Minister Kevin Anderson told the ABC that as of this afternoon, Mr Fuller "will not be given a role on the board of Racing NSW".
"From my perspective and the NSW government's perspective, he won't be given a role on the board," Mr Anderson said.
NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres yesterday endorsed Mr Fuller as a "man of the highest integrity" and an "ideal" candidate for the role with the horseracing operator and regulator.
Under the NSW Police Force (NSWPF) code of conduct, Mr Fuller was required to make declarations at least every year to the government of any private interests, social activities or relationships which had the potential to, or could be perceived to, influence his decisions.
But he only filed a private interest declaration to the government last year, after he had given up his shares in racehorses.
Earlier on Thursday, Premier Dominic Perrottet refused to be drawn on how long his government knew about the lack of disclosures from Mr Fuller.
"I have complete confidence in the fact they've been dealt with appropriately," Mr Perrottet said.
Mr Fuller's successor, Commissioner Karen Webb, said the NSWPF would investigate "any alleged misconduct" and "strengthen policy if there is a need to do so", in response to the ABC's investigation.
But the government is facing calls to announce an independent investigation into NSWPF ties to the racing industry, including from NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge and Patrick Saidi, a former commissioner at the state's police watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.
The NSWPF's official policies have declared the racing industry as "high risk" for conflicts of interest since the Wood royal commission into police corruption 25 years ago.
Fuller's horseracing ties to Sydney's elite
From 2015, Mr Fuller and at least five other NSWPF executives and senior officers acquired shares in racehorses from high-profile horse trainer and former drug addict David Vandyke.
Mr Vandyke had much-publicised past addictions to gambling and heroin and was caught up in several doping scandals.
He was banned for three years in 1989 and fined three times since 2015 because of banned substances in his racehorses.
Mr Fuller co-owned one Vandyke-trained horse, Once Epona Time, from 2019 to 2020 while he was in the top job.
He owned shares in Mad Magic, also trained by Mr Vandyke, from 2015 to 2017, before he became commissioner.
The co-owners of Mad Magic included leaders of other "high-risk" industries including the liquor, gaming and security sectors, as well as sporting and media identities like NRL coach Ricky Stuart and celebrity businessman Mark Bouris.
Mad Magic co-owner David Levy, whose company Ozmart Catering Group won a NSWPF contract in 2017, has for many years employed a friend of Mr Fuller in his food business.
Former policeman John McCusker, the husband of Assistant Police Commissioner Leanne McCusker, has worked for many years as a manager for a Sydney chicken shop from which Ozmart Catering was run.
Ozmart Catering has been contracted by the NSWPF since 2012 to cater to police at major events, functions and training.
The 2017 deal was three times the value of the original contract. It was extended last year and carries a lucrative piggyback clause, meaning any other NSW agency can engage the company without a tender process.
In awarding the contract, the NSWPF was required to consider whether Ozmart's owners were under investigation by police or a statutory body.
At the time of the 2017 tender process, Mr Levy made headlines when he became the target of a criminal investigation into an illegal asbestos dump on his Sydney property.
Charges against Mr Levy have since been dropped.
Neither Mr Levy nor NSW Police responded to the ABC's questions about whether conflicts of interest were declared in the tender process, nor did Assistant Commissioner McCusker answer whether she declared her husband's employment to the NSWPF.
Mr McCusker told the ABC he and his wife had nothing to do with the contracts and did not financially benefit from them.
Mr Fuller has not responded to the ABC's request for comment on his failed attempt to join the Racing NSW board.
He earlier told the ABC he was not required to declare his shares in the racehorses, in what he described as "social" racing syndicates.
"It has not been established I have breached any policy," he said in an email to the ABC.
"I have legally and ethically complied with all government policies over my 34 years loyal service."
Mr Fuller said he "never personally benefited" from the business dealings of Mr Levy, who he said he knew but had not "seen or spoken to … in six years".
In response to a Freedom of Information request for the Ozmart contracts late last year, he ordered a taxpayer-funded review of the tender process, which he said "cleared" him of "any wrongdoing".
The scope of the review, by consulting firm Deloitte, excluded verification of conflicts of interest. The final report did not mention Mr Fuller.
The other senior NSWPF police employees who owned shares in racehorses with Mr Fuller remain with the NSW Police.
They include three assistant commissioners — Gavin Wood, Mark Walton and Scott Andrew Whyte — as well as the NSWPF executive director of public affairs, Grant Williams, and Detective Chief Inspector Peter Faux from the secretive State Intelligence Operations Command.
Assistant Commissioner Wood did not respond to the ABC's questions, but the other men provided statements which said they did not breach any rules or engage in misconduct.
Mad Magic co-owner Mark Bouris told the ABC in an email he "never received nor sought any benefit from any police officer" or the other syndicate members.
David Levy and David Vandyke did not respond to the ABC's questions.
