ICAC person of interest admits wiping his phone and iPad over weekend

Dallas McInerney, a central figure in an inquiry by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), has admitted to performing a factory reset on his work phone and iPad over the weekend. McInerney, the CEO of Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW), is currently being questioned regarding allegations that the organization made illegal donations to the NSW Liberal Party.

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Mr McInerney, it'll be a matter for the commissioner, but can I suggest that is a transparent attempt by you to wipe evidence that would have been critical for this commission?

The admission came after McInerney was asked to provide messages between himself and Liberal Party operatives, which are central to the corruption probe. He stated that he reset the devices because his bank account had been compromised, citing suspicious transactions linked to an unknown offshore merchant. McInerney confirmed that neither his bank nor any other party advised him to perform the factory reset.

During questioning, counsel assisting the commission, Peggy Dwyer SC, pressed McInerney on the implications of wiping the devices. She suggested it could be seen as a "transparent attempt" to eliminate evidence critical to the commission's investigation. McInerney countered that if he had intended to destroy evidence, he would have had ample opportunity over the seven weeks the inquiry had been ongoing.

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My answer to that is that this inquiry has been going for almost seven weeks… Had I wanted to do any malfeasance of that nature, I would have had quite a runway to do that…

McInerney had previously given two days of evidence and was aware he would be required to testify again. He explained his delay in revealing the phone and iPad reset by stating he had not been directly asked about it by the commission. The revelation occurred hours into his third day of testimony.

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I knew what I was doing. The factory reset is a factory reset.