Sajish Erasery was convicted of soliciting a corrupt commission contrary to section 249B of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), following an earlier guilty plea. He was sentenced to a 2-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.
The sentence stems from a joint investigation commenced by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (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% of the contract value, equating to $250,000. He later reduced this to $200,000 and proposed a scheme to repay the company through inflated invoices.
Upon receipt of the referral, the NACC took immediate action using a diverse range of investigatory techniques, and gathered sufficient evidence to charge Erasery within 10 days .
The NACC acknowledges the cooperation and proactive actions of Western Sydney Airport in referring the matter.
This is the first sentence resulting from a NACC-initiated investigation, following 9 other convictions from matters commenced by the former Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity and continued by the NACC from 1 July 2023. The matter was prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) (CDPP).
