ICAC & The Entitled Liberals

[boris1gary]

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/icac-liberal-party-official-john-caputo-admits-giving-cheques-to-chris-har... 

ICAC: Liberal Party official John Caputo admits giving cheques to Chris Hartcher

A Liberal Party official linked to Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Premier Mike Baird has come under fire at a corruption inquiry over thousands of dollars in cheques he gave to former state energy minister Chris Hartcher.

John Caputo, a fundraiser for Mr Abbott and Mr Baird and a former mayor of Warringah, admitted at the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Thursday that it was a "diversion" from normal practice to give political donations made out to the NSW Liberal Party directly to Mr Hartcher.

This included cheques handed over by donors at a March 2011 fundraising dinner attended by Mr Hartcher and former Attorney-General Greg Smith.

Junior counsel assisting the commission Greg O'Mahoney asked whether it "sounds a bit like a fraud" that cheques made out to the NSW Liberals were not given first to head office or its treasurer, as Mr Caputo said was the normal practice.

"No," Mr Caputo replied.

He said that Liberal Party donations were sometimes given directly to particular regions, but he struggled to recall other examples.

[lakeland27]

Meanwhile, state Liberal MP Tim Owen says it is highly likely prohibited donors contributed to his 2011 election campaign and says he will not contest next year's state election.

how many more ?

[boris1gary]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/12/chris-hartcher-fundraiser-admits-to-seeking-donations-f...Chris Hartcher fundraiser admits to seeking donations from banned donors

Ray Carter tells Icac that he funnelled hundreds of thousands of dollars using slush funds

A key fundraiser for former New South Wales energy minister Chris Hartcher has admitted to soliciting donations from banned donors and using slush funds and a conservative fundraising organisation to cover his tracks, allegedly with the blessing of senior Liberals.

Ray Carter, employed by Hartcher since 1988, told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) in Sydney that he funnelled hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations to the state Liberal party through a trust fund, the Free Enterprise Foundation, and two sham companies, Eightbyfive and Micky Tech.

“I did collect money and give it to Eightbyfive for the purposes of coming back to the Liberal party,” Carter said.

“Was some of that money coming from prohibited donors, Mr Carter?” counsel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson SC, asked.

“Yes,” Carter said.

[freshwater-2]

ICAC and Caputo: Abbott and Baird's Manly problem

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Wheeeee, way to go ICAC !

[lakeland27]

  it does seem abbott's electoral office is implicated  i wonder what else they'll find..

[fourandsixpants]

[boris1gary]

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/chris-hartcher-asked-staffer-ray-carter-to-take-the-fall-for-spending-laun...

  Chris Hartcher asked staffer Ray Carter to take the fall for spending 'laundered' money: ICAC

Former Liberal state energy minister Chris Hartcher asked a long-time staffer to take the fall for spending illegal donations that were allegedly laundered through his old law firm, a corruption inquiry has heard.

Ray Carter, a former electorate officer to Mr Hartcher, gave sensational evidence at the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Tuesday that Mr Hartcher met him in person "six months ago" to ask him to "accept the responsibility".

[cherry*135]

Memory loss won't work here..

"For years the NSW Labor Party appeared to have a monopoly on political corruption. But the allegations of political skulduggery and treachery which have been aired at the ICAC during this inquiry have rocked the Liberal Party.

Among the jaw-dropping allegations are some which involve serious criminality. Hartcher, a former solicitor, stands accused of taking three cheques which had been made out to the NSW Liberal Party and depositing them in the trust account of his old law firm Hartcher Reid. He then instructed his nephew Simon Reid, a solicitor at the firm, to move the money into an account operated by the Thai boyfriend of his long-time staffer Ray Carter.
Carter has given evidence that he then returned the money to Mr Hartcher. While we are yet to hear from Mr Hartcher, on the face of it he has been involved in money-laundering, a jailable offence."


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/even-i-am-shocked-by-icac-revelations-20140516-zreh2.html#ixzz31wepPH9...

[spotweldersfriend]

The Liberal Party are certainly open for business,aren't they?

[izabsmiling]

http://www.thwink.org/sustain/articles/016/CorporateDominanceLoop.htm

How can we solve the corporate dominance problem?

[boris1gary]

after recent comments about Ms Gillard and the ranting far righters still insisting she was guilty of something, anything and banging on about not being able to recall minute details from over 20 years ago This caught my attention, it's very long and mostly uninteresting but the memory bit his excuse seems to be he was too busy to do his job properly as he was  busy sitting on so many boards - hard work, those board meetings.

The downfall of Arthur Sinodinos

Memory is a funny thing. Listening to Sinodinos reminisce about his time in Howard's office, I am struck by his detailed recollection of events long past. Talking about Andrew Peacock's successful 1989 challenge to Howard's leadership, he says, "It would have been May 9, I think. It was either a Monday or a Tuesday."

Yet at ICAC hearings, he struggled to recall key incidents and conversations from his time as chairman of AWH and treasurer of the NSW Liberal Party. In five hours in the witness box in April, he said "I don't remember" or "I don't recollect" more than 60 times. "It's a real issue, I agree," he tells me. "People say, 'It was only four or five years ago.' But I was doing a lot of things concurrently. And what tends to stick in your mind then is what is more colourful or unusual."

http://www.smh.com.au/good-weekend/the-downfall-of-arthur-sinodinos-20141017-10qbrj.html