Infosys paid $16m to Synergy 360, the company that reportedly was asked to send profits to a trust that former Coalition MP Stuart Robert had part owned, a parliamentary committee has heard.
Robert said he had never “part owned any company that ever received anything from Synergy 360”.
The Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) is investigating possible “tainted contracts” following allegations that Robert helped lobbying firm Synergy 360 and its client, Infosys, win government contracts.
The Infosys executive vice-president, Andrew Groth, said on Friday that his firm no longer engaged Synergy 360, had not been aware of anything untoward and that Synergy claimed they didn’t have to register as a lobbyist organisation.
Nine newspapers have reported the allegations and that Synergy 360’s co-owners, David Milo and John Margerison, are linked to Robert.
Robert, a close friend of former prime minister Scott Morrison, has denied any wrongdoing. He has previously rejected any “implied imputation” that he had influenced procurement, declaring he had “zero involvement” and that departmental procurement was conducted with the “highest levels of probity”.
Robert announced his retirement from the Gold Coast seat of Fadden in May. A byelection will be held on 15 July.
On Thursday, Bill Shorten said in parliament that in November he had updated the house on reports in Nine newspapers “alleging Mr Stuart Robert used his status as a federal MP to help Canberra lobbying firm Synergy 360 sign up corporate clients with a promise of helping them navigate government bureaucracy and parliament and meet key decision-makers, including Coalition ministers”.
“The initial report detailed how Mr Robert personally intervened in contracts worth $274m awarded to Indian software giant Infosys,” he said.
“Flowing from these disturbing revelations, Services Australia and the NDIS investigated potentially tainted contracts linked to Synergy 360.”
Shorten said a review by former public servant Dr Ian Watt found 19 of 95 procurements “had real deficiencies”.
Since then, he said, the JCPAA heard evidence from Margerison that in 2017 he had “instructed his accountant to direct Synergy 360 profits derived from commonwealth contracts to a trust to which Mr Robert was a beneficiary”.
The committee heard he had emailed his accountant to say “anything that comes in from this in the future, I will end up sending to [Australian Property Trust] the same amount that comes in”.
Robert was a shareholder in the trust until 2018.
Anyone with a direct or indirect financial interest in government contracts cannot sit as a senator or MP under the constitution, Shorten said, adding that it was not clear “if that threshold has been breached”.
Robert said it was “patently incorrect and outrageous” to suggest any money had been sent to any company he part owned.
“Mr Margerison and Mr Milo have both said on the record that Synergy 360 never paid any dividend or payment to Mr Margerison.
“Nor have I ever part owned any company that ever received anything from Synergy 360 and I have never part owned any company that ever held shares in Synergy 360.”
Margerison told the committee in April he had “never received any money from Milo Consulting”, which is Synergy 360’s trading name.
“I have never received any dividend or other payment from Milo Consulting. I have not ever personally been a shareholder of Milo Consulting, albeit my family trust was, and no longer is, a shareholder,” he said.
Groth told the committee Infosys paid Synergy 360 about $16m over five years for a range of projects. Most of the money was for core work, while 15% was for sales support and 15% was for “success fees”. The company no longer awarded success fees, he said.
He met with Robert 11 times, he said on Friday, and that was because the MP had asked to be kept updated on the progress of a specific project to upgrade the information technology systems at Services Australia while he was the government services minister.
Infosys was selected after a 14-month procurement process, Groth said.
The committee asked him about Shorten stating in parliament that MPs using a public office to “enrich private mates” was corruption, which sparked a debate among MPs about who the accusation was aimed at.
“My response is that at Infosys our code of conduct, dealing with integrity, with transparency, is absolutely core to our business,” Groth said. “That’s the way we operate. I’m not aware of anything that departs from that.”
Guardian Australia contacted Synergy 360 for comment.
• This article was amended on 24 June at 2.45pm. The original story suggested that profits were sent to the trust Stuart Robert had part owned, which Guardian Australia does not allege.
