Ex-Boyfriend of Former NSW Premier Faces Fresh Charge of Brokering for Chinese Property Developer

Counsel assisting the commission, Scott Robertson, arrives at ICAC on Oct. 28, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Daryl Maguire, who allegedly committed visa fraud while serving as a New South Wales (NSW) MP, has been charged with making false and misleading evidence to a corruption inquiry involving a council in Sydney.

On June 2, Maguire, a former member of parliament for Wagga Wagga in NSW and the ex-boyfriend of former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian, was charged with giving false and misleading evidence in 2018 in Operation Dasha.

Operation Dasha was a corruption investigation into the conduct of councillors of the former Canterbury City Council and others, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) confirmed.

In the case, six former city councillors were alleged of having serious corrupt conduct in relation to planning advice and applications.

The ICAC has recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) bring criminal charges against Maguire, who gave testimony over denials he made during his evidence on July 13, 2018. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.

Maguire initially denied doing business with former councillor Michael Hawatt or seeking payment for brokering deals on behalf of a Chinese real estate developer.

However, after the ICAC played recordings of tapped phone calls to the commission, Maguire admitted dealing with Hawatt on behalf of Chinese property company Country Garden and seeking payment if the developers invested in an $48 million (US$31.7 million) project in Canterbury.

A building under construction is seen in Shanghai on Sept. 24, 2021. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

Country Garden, China’s largest private-sector developer, was downgraded in late 2022 from the investment level due to its sluggish cash flow, eventually closing to a debt default. The real estate giant has launched several rounds of investment seeking since 2021.

Weeks after giving evidence, Maguire resigned from the Liberal Party. He then resigned his seat for Wagga Wagga after increasing pressure.

New Charge Overtops Old Charge

The new charge comes as the former MP was preparing to appear before the court on June 20 for another charge of conspiring to commit an offence.

In late 2022, Maguire was charged with conspiring with a migration agent and engaging in a “cash-for-visa” scheme, which refers to visa applicants paying employers to get a job and then using their work experience to apply for an Australian visa.

The scheme is the subject of ICAC’s Operation Keppel, an investigation into Maguire and Berejiklian.

Maguire, 64, was the secret lover of former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian, with whom he had a five-year relationship starting in 2015.

Former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to the media as she departs the Independent Commission Against Corruption on November 01, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Maguire allegedly told Berejiklian to get a private phone and download the instant messaging app WeChat days after he had been summoned by ICAC in 2018.

Maguire texted Berejiklian on July 9, 2018, asking her to download WeChat, a messaging app popular among Chinese people, which has raised security concerns.

“They can read texts, but not the little green man. It leaves no trace,” Maguire allegedly wrote to Berejiklian five days after he was called by the commission.

The former premier said Maguire’s suggestions “could have been for privacy reasons.”

“I had no inclination to think that it was because he had done anything wrong,” Berejiklian said at that time. “I had no reason to disbelieve him when I pressed him a number of times and he said he’d done nothing wrong.”

“I trusted him,” she said.

The findings of the ICAC into Berejiklian will be released on June 29. Berejiklian has continually denied any wrongdoing.

AAP contributed to this report.