Lawyers to wade through massive volumes of evidence in public service fraud case

Abdul Aziz El-Debel, who is charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth and abuse of public office. Picture: Blake Foden

Lawyers representing three federal public servants in a highly complex fraud case are set to be served with thousands of pages detailing the evidence against the trio.

The Australian Federal Police investigated Abdul Aziz El-Debel, Gopalakrishnan Suryanarayanan Vilayur and Raminder Singh Kahlon for 11 months before officers arrested the trio during a series of raids across Canberra in June.

The men, aged between 36 and 50, were subsequently charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth. Mr El-Debel and Mr Vilayur also face an abuse of public office charge.

Police, who were tipped off by the Department of Finance, allege that between June 2018 and June 2020, the trio profited from an illicit scheme to defraud the department.

Gopalakrishnan Suryanarayanan Vilayur, right, who is charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth and abuse of public office. Picture: Blake Foden

The men allegedly used inside knowledge to direct government IT contracts through preferred suppliers.

The precise methods of the alleged offending have not yet been aired publicly, nor has a dollar figure been placed on its total value.

Mr El-Debel, who goes by the name Alex, has pleaded not guilty, while the other two are yet to enter pleas.

The cases of all three men returned to the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday morning.

Lawyer Emma Bayliss, representing Mr Vilayur, told the court she had received a partial brief of evidence in the order of about 700 pages.

Raminder Singh Kahlon, who is charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth. Picture: Blake Foden

The completed brief is expected to run into the thousands of pages.

Magistrate Beth Campbell agreed to adjourn Mr Vilayur's case until October 29, while the matters of his co-accused were listed to return to court on November 26.

All three men are on bail, with conditions including bans on being within 200 metres of the Department of Finance office and accessing departmental computer systems.

The Canberra Times revealed in July that authorities targeting criminal wealth had frozen about $7.8 million in assets linked to the alleged fraudsters.

The assets restrained by the Confiscation of Criminal Assets Taskforce include seven homes understood to be worth a combined $5.6 million, and an unknown number of cars and bank accounts.

Police claim that some of the proceeds of the trio's alleged fraud were used to buy and renovate residential properties in Canberra.