A sham company that had no employees and was awarded contracts by Downer EDI allowed subcontracted workers on rail stations to skip safety procedures by filling out forms for them, NSW’s Independent Commission Against Corruption has been told.
Mr Nguyen acknowledged he was an “unofficial silent partner” in the company, which he had previously helped win work with Leichhardt Council so it could raise money to bid for more lucrative transport projects. “So am I accurate in understanding that it enabled the workers to skip the safety training that they were supposed to do on the site because you would do it for them?” counsel assisting ICAC, Joanna Davidson, asked Mr Nguyen.
Another company without employees, RJS Infrastructure, was set up by Mr Nguyen after the Victoria Street station project to try and replicate its success. RJS Infrastructure had acquired branded uniforms by the time it won work from Downer on another project, the Lithgow Station project, Mr Nguyen said.and pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars after awarding contracts to small private companies with no employees.