Print PageAn accountant has told a corruption inquiry he deliberately lied about his association with former NSW Labor minister Eddie Obeid and his family.
John Campo, who was previously in the witness box in November, told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that when he was questioned by a reporter in 2010 about knowing the Obeid family, Eddie Obeid's son Paul told him to lie to protect their privacy.
ICAC is investigating allegations the Obeids and their associates stood to profit $100 million from inside knowledge about coal mining tenders in the Upper Hunter.
It is alleged they benefited from decisions made by former mining minister Ian Macdonald.
After Commissioner David Ipp told the witness he was not a puppet and asked him why he lied to the reporter, Mr Campo said he "just didn't think about it."
He also said the reporter had been bothering him.
The next witness, Hassam Archie, who is known as Sam, told ICAC he is married to Eddie Obeid's daughter Fiona and is a financial controller for the Obeid Corporation.
He was grilled by Counsel-Assisting Geoffrey Watson about the family finances.
Mr Archie admitted his salary is only $55,000 per year but said his wife's family has looked after him "in other ways".
He was also questioned about the Obeid children being given substantial loans rather than payments from various family trusts.
He told ICAC he calls his father in law "dad" and admitted that some family bills are paid by the Obeid Corporation and treated as loans.
During today's hearing, the commissioner chastised Eddie Obeid's barrister Stuart Littlemore for making inappropriate comments while Sam Archie was in the witness box.
The inquiry continues.
