'Let it die': Whistleblower alleges agency boss didn't act on $20m 'rort'

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.The head of a NSW government agency allegedly told a whistleblower not to act after he uncovered a major rort in the building industry bleeding up to $20 million a year in public money because it would make her "look bad" to the minister.

A spokesperson for the Long Service Corporation said the matters had been the subject of an investigation and none of the reviews found any evidence of misconduct.An audit of the corporation's compliance and enforcement activities – which would address revenue leakage – was scheduled for this financial year, the spokesperson said.

Developers were also rorting the system by deliberately undervaluing projects to cut the size of the levy owed to the corporation, causing "incredible" losses of public revenue. At the time the corporation was part of the NSW Treasury, overseen by Treasurer Dominic Perrottet. It was later moved into the Finance department and then to the Department of Customer Service.

Meriton strenuously denied the allegations and labelled them "patently ridiculous". A Meriton spokesperson said its cost estimates were generally independently verified by the council's quantity surveyors. The group used reputable firms to accurately estimate its costs, he said, adding that the banks independently assessed construction costs and cross checked to ensure appropriate levies were paid.

In January 2018 the whistleblower arranged a meeting with Ms Skuta and one of her subordinates to voice his concerns at the lack of action about the undervalued developments, according to the document trove. After the meeting the whistleblower made a formal complaint, referred to a departmental audit team for investigation. The audit team found the spreadsheet of the 35 undervalued developments was not enough to show "systemic and ongoing loss of revenue".

jmwhistleblower From the same NSW government and Premier that shreds documents - why would we be surprised they would protect the building industry

More safeguards need to be afforded to whistle blowers.

More corruption Does it ever end Greed and more Greed All this and families are struggling

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