Former New South Wales Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid, his son Moses and former NSW minister Ian Macdonald, have been permitted to remain at their homes until sentencing in September after being convicted on conspiracy charges earlier this week.
The three were found guilty on Monday of conspiracy to wilfully commit misconduct in public office in relation to the granting of a coal exploration licence at Mt Penny in the NSW Upper Hunter.
In 2008 Macdonald, then NSW mineral resources minister, created a mining exploration licence, known as the Mt Penny, over land in the Bylong Valley owned by a company controlled by the Obeid family.
Supreme Court judge, Justice Elizabeth Fullerton found that Macdonald and Moses Obeid had conspired to ensure the licence was drawn up to cover the Obeid’s property, Cherrydale Park and that it was granted to their preferred mining company, Cascade Coal.
Fullerton found Obeid was part of the conspiracy because Moses would not have attempted to sell the property without his father’s knowledge or consent. The Obeid family received a $30m windfall out of the deal.
On Thursday, Fullerton foreshadowed that imprisonment was likely and has given the three men time to make submissions on their health.
Unlike statutory offences, there is no maximum penalty for the offence of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. Rather, the penalty is ‘at large’, which means it is at the discretion of the court. Previous offenders have received up to seven years’ jail time.
Fullerton, however, rejected the crown’s submission that there was a flight risk which justified revoking bail now, noting that because of Covid 19, it was difficult to leave the state, and leaving the country required permission from the Commonwealth.
She rejected the suggestion the men could leave the country illegally.
Instead she ordered Eddie Obeid must remain at his Hunters Hill address, Moses must remain at his Paddington address and Macdonald must remain at his Leura address. They must report by phone to police three days a week and are banned from leaving home between 10pm and 5am. All three have surrendered their passports.
Submissions on sentencing will be heard on 8 September and will likely include new medical evidence. Eddie Obeid is 77 and Ian Macdonald is 72.