Defence closing begins in ACT trial of Abdul El-Debel and Raminder Kahlon accused of conspiracy against Finance Department

Department worker Abdul "Alex" Aziz El-Debel, 49, and IT consultant Raminder Singh Kahlon, 38, are accused of working together to influence or corrupt the department's IT procurement processes relating to contractual projects.

The result, during the alleged conspiracy between March 2019 and June 2020, was the favouring of candidates at New Horizons Business Solutions, owned by Kahlon, and Algoram, owned by Gopalakrishnan Suryanarayanan Vilayur, who is not on trial.

The trio then allegedly shared in the profit margins the businesses made from the contracts.

In his closing address to a jury in the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday, Kahlon's barrister Matthew Kalyk described the conspiracy as "an astounding proposition" and suggested to jurors they would not be satisfied it met the criminal standard of proof.

He said there was "a real disconnect" between the alleged corruption of the procurement processes and the proceeds obtained because there was "no link whatsoever between any money and any wrongdoing".

He said Kahlon's international money transfers, which the prosecution alleges was a "pool of money" associated with the conspiracy, "have nothing to do with any of these matters" due to the timings.

MORE COURT AND CRIME NEWS

The defence lawyer took the jury through a chronology of those remittances and said the majority was in 2018-19 before they stopped in February 2020.

"There is an extreme issue in the Crown case because what they're really saying is that 'we have this money in 2018 but we can't prove any misconduct'," Mr Kalyk said.

"Then 'we have misconduct in 2020, but we can't show any money'. What they're saying to you is for you to fill the gaps.

"I suggest to you it doesn't follow. Ultimately that may cause you some trouble in reaching a verdict that there is any link in the proceeds and the processes."

Mr Kalyk also cited a procurement process just before the pre-charge period and said the only evidence the prosecution can point to were "vague references in telephone calls".

"They haven't put forward any clear evidence of any process that they can point to to say 'look, this is where it went wrong'," he said.

He said calls between El-Debel and Vilayur at the time showed that the latter was struggling for resources for that particular project.

"What this is really is a cry for help from Gopal, not a conspiracy," Mr Kalyk said.

He also cited an instance of El-Debel signing a conflict of interest form and removing himself from a candidate selection panel.

He said evidence showed the men had genuine concerns about resources at the department, rather than it being a conspiracy, and if there were an agreement, it was not one to dishonestly obtain from the Commonwealth.

Mr Kalyk is expected to continue his closing on Friday before Catherine Newman, for El-Debel, addresses the jury. Both accused have pleaded not guilty to their charges.

Commonwealth prosecutor David Staehli SC in his closing address earlier this week argued the name Algoram was significant because it combined the first syllables of each of the men's first names - being Alex in El-Debel's case - that went towards establishing the conspiracy.

The trial, presided over by Justice Michael Elkaim, began in early June and other evidence included public service workers' testimonies and financial documents.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: