Ferries boss misused credit card: ICAC

(AAP) The head of Sydney Ferries racked up a $237,000 corporate credit card debt due to a crippling mortgage and his wife's medical bills, a corruption inquiry has been told.

Former chief executive Rear Admiral Geoffrey Smith used the card to pay for personal
expenses, including groceries, private school fees, alcohol, furnishings and club
memberships, an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearing was told on
Wednesday.
He continued to spend despite being repeatedly warned he couldn't use the corporate
credit card for personal use, the ICAC heard.
Brought in to fix up the troubled NSW government corporation in 2006, the former
high-ranking navy officer now faces an ICAC inquiry.
He told the inquiry his wife's medical bills ran into tens of thousands of dollars
and he had a mortgage of $1.4 million when he started work at Sydney Ferries.
Despite his signature appearing on several documents outlining Sydney Ferries'
corporate credit card policy, Admiral Smith said he was unaware the cards couldn't
be used for personal expenses.
"When I arrived at Sydney Ferries I assumed I could use the card for business and
private use," he told the inquiry.
Sydney Ferries' former chief financial officer (CFO) Wendy Hughes and former acting
CFO Alex Andreopoulos told the inquiry they warned Admiral Smith several times to
pay back money he owed and to stop using his corporate credit card for personal
purposes.
Ms Hughes said that at one point Sydney Ferries was in crisis with five deaths in
the space of eight weeks and she did not think it was appropriate to warn him in
writing.
"It wasn't the most important issue I can tell you. It was an awful, awful time,"
she said in a statement to the commission.
"I did what I thought was right just to close the door and give him my frank advice."
Admiral Smith was sacked in May after being stood aside in April while ICAC
investigated the corruption allegations.
He has told the inquiry he did not read the company policy on credit card use until
he was made aware of it in 2009.
When asked why he didn't tell Sydney Ferries he was struggling to repay the money,
he said he didn't think it was necessary as he had every intention of paying it
back.
"I never doubted it was an obligation to repay the money," he said.
The inquiry heard Admiral Smith intended to repay the money by selling his house,
which he put on the market in February.
He has repaid $135,000 but still owes $101,504.
ICAC Commissioner Jerrold Cripps said the evidence so far had shown Admiral Smith's
spending was out of control.
"We've got to remember here, what we are talking about is misuse of a card by a
senior member of the operation, not the office boy," he told the inquiry.