National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Paul Brereton has welcomed the sentence handed down to a former procurement manager convicted of soliciting a bribe. Photo: Screenshot.
A corrupt airport official has been sentenced over an attempt to bribe a company bidding to provide parking systems for Western Sydney Airport.
Sajish Erasery, the former executive procurement manager at Western Sydney Airport, has been sentenced for soliciting a bribe of $200,000 during a contract procurement process.
He was convicted of soliciting a corrupt commission contrary to section 249B of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) following an earlier guilty plea.
Erasery was sentenced on Monday (28 July) to a two-year term of imprisonment, to be served by way of an intensive correction order in the community, which includes the completion of 500 hours of community service.
This is the first sentence to result from a National Anti-Corruption Commission-initiated investigation.
Western Sydney Airport is considered a Commonwealth agency for the purposes of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022 (Cth).
Its employees and officers are therefore Commonwealth public officials and within the Commission’s jurisdiction.
The sentence stems from a joint investigation commenced by the NACC and the Australian Federal Police in March 2024.
The investigation established that Erasery attempted to solicit the bribe from a company bidding for a $5 million contract to provide automated parking systems at the future airport.
Erasery initially suggested he could “get the deal over the line” if he received a corrupt payment of 5 per cent of the contract value, equating to $250,000.
He later reduced the bribe amount to $200,000 and proposed a scheme to repay the company through inflated invoices.
Western Sydney Airport referred the matter to the NACC, which took immediate action over Erasery’s actions.
Using a range of investigatory techniques, the NACC and the AFP gathered sufficient evidence to charge Erasery within 10 days of the referral.
Following a joint investigation, the AFP carried out an arrest on 27 March 2024 on behalf of the Commission.
The matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Paul Brereton said at the time of Erasery’s arrest that the NACC had chosen to publicise the charge to highlight the risk of corruption in high-value and complex procurements in the Commonwealth sector.
It was the first charge in an investigation initiated by the Commission and is now the first sentence.
There have been nine other convictions, but they are from matters commenced by the former Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity and continued by the NACC from 1 July 2023.
The Commission acknowledges the cooperation, timely and proactive actions of Western Sydney Airport in referring the matter to it.
The NACC said Western Sydney Airport’s cooperation was a key enabler of the investigation.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
