Obeid’s remorse over ICAC lies questioned in court

The son of disgraced ex-NSW Labor minister Eddie Obeid is looking to avoid further jail time after lying to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog during a 2012 inquiry.

Moses Obeid’s estranged wife, Nicole Obeid, appeared at a sentence hearing in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court on Monday, after he pleaded guilty in 2023 to giving false evidence to ICAC.

The 55-year-old is serving a three-year sentence over a separate corruption scheme alongside his father and former resources minister Ian Macdonald.

Ms Obeid said in a written statement her husband, from whom she is separated, “is remorseful” and “accepts the errors of his ways”, but initially told the court he had never explicitly told her so.

“What did he say?” crown prosecutor Sally Traynor asked.

“He didn’t,” Ms Obeid replied.

Ms Obeid explained her husband’s remorse was the impression she got from knowing him as well as she does.

“He’s missed out on being with his children. He’s remorseful,” she said.

Ms Obeid later said there had been a conversation in which Obeid had said he was remorseful, but she could not remember the date of the conversation.

“If I gave you a date I would be absolutely lying,” she said.

Obeid’s lawyer Philip Strickland SC told the court his client had taken responsibility for his actions outside of conversations with Ms Obeid.

“He has accepted responsibility for his offending and he has acknowledged the damage caused by the offences,” Strickland told the court.

“He said the victims of the offences were the people of NSW.”

The couple separated in 2019, shortly before Obeid stood trial for the corruption allegations against him, his father and Mr Macdonald.

The trio were ultimately convicted and the younger Obeid handed a three-year sentence for conspiracy to commit an offence of misconduct in public office, for which he will be eligible for parole in October.

The corruption findings related to a coal exploration licence covering a property the Obeids owned in the Bylong Valley in the NSW Upper-Hunter region.

Obeid later pleaded guilty to providing false statements to the Independent Commission Against Corruption in May and November 2012, about the provision of a Honda CR-V to then-minister Eric Roozendaal in 2007.

Mr Roozendaal was cleared of any wrongdoing, but Obeid was found to have acted corruptly and, along with several others, was referred for possible criminal charges.

Co-offender and former Obeid business partner Rocco Triulcio was in January placed on a 21-month intensive correction order, staying out of prison on strict supervision conditions.