Covert war crimes inquiry compromised by former AFP chief Mick Keelty

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This was published 3 years ago

Covert war crimes inquiry compromised by former AFP chief Mick Keelty

By Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters

The Australian Federal Police's war crimes investigation into former special forces soldier Ben Roberts-Smith was compromised after former AFP chief Mick Keelty was told secret details by serving police and then passed them on to Mr Roberts-Smith.

Mr Keelty passed on confidential information to Mr Roberts-Smith just days after the AFP had launched what were supposed to be covert inquiries into the Afghan veteran and Victoria Cross recipient in early June 2018. Mr Keelty's information confirmed to Mr Roberts-Smith that he was the subject of police interest according to official sources familiar with the matter speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Mick Keelty last year.

Mick Keelty last year.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The police watchdog, the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, has confirmed Mr Keelty's actions have resulted in an inquiry into "a potential corruption issue relating to the alleged release of information by an unknown AFP member to Mr Ben Roberts-Smith about an investigation into Mr Roberts-Smith".

Sources with knowledge of the events say Mr Keelty's intervention allowed Mr Roberts-Smith to take precautions against police inquiries at a time when he should not have known he was under scrutiny. The disclosures meant the covert phase of a war crimes inquiry – one of the most sensitive probes in AFP history – was blown only days after it started.

In a written statement to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Keelty defended his actions, stressing he had only ever acted out of concern for Mr Roberts-Smith's welfare. Mr Keelty said he did not know the former soldier when he met him twice to give him welfare support in June 2018.

ACLEI said its inquiry "has not uncovered admissible evidence against any person within ACLEI's jurisdiction" but that it would examine any further information "that would support further action in relation to the allegation". Mr Keelty is not within the ACLEI's jurisdiction because he left the AFP in 2009 and ACLEI only has power to investigate allegations of corrupt conduct by serving AFP members. There is no suggestion Mr Keelty has engaged in corruption, only that his disclosures compromised a covert inquiry.

AFP deputy commissioner Ramzi Jabbour.

AFP deputy commissioner Ramzi Jabbour.

The ACLEI inquiry into serving police suspected of giving information to Mr Keelty led it to target former deputy commissioner Ramzi Jabbour who was suspended in March 2019 and then resigned months later over other alleged misconduct.

Mr Jabbour was charged over claims he misused his service weapon. He denies the claims and his court case will conclude in the ACT Magistrates Court next year. In late 2019, Mr Keelty appointed Mr Jabbour to a government integrity role, reporting to Mr Keelty in his capacity as Australia's water resources watchdog.

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The inquiry into Mr Keelty's disclosures also meant he was under ACLEI scrutiny when he was appointed in December 2018 to a three-person panel by the federal government to advise it on whether ACLEI should be expanded into a new national integrity body with broader jurisdiction. Multiple sources close to Mr Keelty say he is furious at ACLEI and the AFP's handling of the disclosure issue.

Since leaving the AFP in 2009, Mr Keelty has worked as an adviser to companies, wealthy families, policing agencies and governments. In September 2018, he was appointed by the federal government as the Inspector-General of the Northern Basin water system, an integrity role that has since expanded to include the Murray-Darling Basin.

Portrait of Ben Roberts-Smith by the artist Michael Zavros at the Australian War Memorial.

Portrait of Ben Roberts-Smith by the artist Michael Zavros at the Australian War Memorial.Credit:

Mr Keelty told The Age and Herald he had offered the support to Mr Roberts-Smith after a request from a security industry contact who had worked alongside Mr Roberts-Smith for billionaire media mogul Kerry Stokes. Mr Stokes, the executive chairman of Seven Group Holdings, is Mr Roberts-Smith's employer. There is no suggestion Mr Stokes endorsed the actions of Mr Keelty.

The confidential information that Mr Keelty disclosed to Mr Roberts-Smith included the existence of three highly sensitive and confidential referrals to the AFP about Mr Roberts-Smith's alleged criminal conduct. These referrals are subject to Commonwealth secrecy provisions designed to ensure that suspects are unaware they are under investigation.

A series of inquiries

Two of the 2018 referrals to the AFP were made by the office of the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force as part of its long-running inquiry into alleged war crimes committed by special forces in Afghanistan.

The Inspector-General made classified complaints to the federal police about late May 2018 alleging that SAS comrades of Mr Roberts-Smith had claimed that he had participated in the execution of prisoners in southern Afghanistan. Around the same time as these referrals, a female lawyer separately complained to the AFP that she had been allegedly punched in the face by Mr Roberts-Smith while she was conducting an affair with the married war hero.

Seven Network chairman and Ben Roberts-Smith's boss Kerry Stokes.

Seven Network chairman and Ben Roberts-Smith's boss Kerry Stokes.Credit: Philip Gostelow

In his written statement, Mr Keelty confirmed passing on information about police activity in June 2018. But he stressed that the only reason he had sought information from serving officers about the AFP's interest in Mr Roberts-Smith was to "de-conflict" with his former agency and avoid compromising any active inquiries.

Mr Keelty also said the information he gave Mr Roberts-Smith had been publicly reported at the time of the pair's June 2018 meetings. However, when pressed, he was unable to find any media reports. The earliest reports confirming police interest in Mr Roberts-Smith were published later in 2018, well after Mr Keelty's dealings with him.

Mr Keelty said in his statement that Mr Jabbour had told him via text message about June 15, 2018, that "something was on its way" relating to incoming referrals to the federal police about Mr Roberts-Smith. According to Mr Keelty, that text message arrived while he was at his first meeting with Mr Roberts-Smith.

Five days later, Mr Keelty again called Mr Jabbour, who told him to speak to AFP Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan, the senior officer overseeing the referrals from the defence Inspector-General to the AFP.

"I rang Jabbour initially but he said that Gaughan would have the progress, if any, of the referral to the AFP," Mr Keelty said in his statement. "It was Gaughan who told me that three letters of complaint had been received" by the federal police about Mr Roberts-Smith.

However, Mr Gaughan disclosed the contact from Mr Keelty to the AFP's internal affairs unit, according to multiple sources. In a statement, the AFP declined to comment other than saying it had referred the disclosures to the corruption watchdog ACLEI in June 2018. Mr Jabbour declined to comment.

Mr Keelty said that prior to meeting Mr Roberts-Smith, he had told then-commissioner Andrew Colvin that, "I was asked to reach out to BRS [Ben Roberts-Smith] who was in 'a world of hurt' following public allegations that he was involved in potential improper conduct while deployed overseas."

Mr Keelty claimed that "Colvin agreed to the approach and made no reference to current investigations only to say there is 'stuff running around' and that he, Colvin was not in a position to approach BRS". Mr Colvin declined to comment other than stating the case had been referred to the corruption watchdog.

ACLEI confirmed in a statement that the AFP had notified it on June 21, 2018, of allegations that Mr Roberts-Smith had been told sensitive information about the federal police's interest in him. ACLEI said that a week later, on June 27 that year, former Integrity Commissioner Michael Griffin launched a joint covert investigation with the AFP into the alleged leak.

'An eminent Australian'

Asked why Mr Keelty gave welfare support to a person he didn't know and who might be under potential investigation by the policing agency he once led, Mr Keelty said: "You are viewing him [Roberts-Smith] as a [an alleged] war criminal. At the times we met, I was viewing him as an eminent Australian who had been publicly vilified. I was not concerning myself with anything other than welfare."

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Referrals to police must be handled secretly to allow proper evidence collection and ensure the safety of complainants.

The AFP war crimes inquiries gathered evidence, including from eyewitnesses, that led to the AFP submitting a brief of evidence against Mr Roberts-Smith earlier this year. The brief alleges Mr Roberts-Smith is involved in the execution of prisoner Ali Jan in September 2012.

There is no suggestion Mr Roberts-Smith did anything wrong in meeting Mr Keelty. He has denied any involvement in war crimes or assaulting a woman and is suing this masthead for reporting the allegations. The Age and Herald are also not suggesting Mr Keelty acted with intent to compromise the AFP inquiry.

Mr Keelty said that he had advised Mr Roberts-Smith "about the AFP process that a referral is not a guarantee of an investigation". Mr Keelty said that while he was told by AFP officers of the three Roberts-Smith referrals, he was not told if they were still in the assessment phase or had progressed to full-blown inquiries.

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"No one [from the AFP] ever confirmed to me at any time that the AFP converted those referrals to an investigation of BRS," Mr Keelty said.

"I considered it appropriate to contact the AFP about BRS to ensure that I was not crossing over any current operations by meeting with him. It was solely to de-conflict – it was never to advise BRS anything that you would not tell any person in a similar situation who was complaining that he was being prosecuted in the media but had not yet been spoken to by anyone from either Defence or the AFP."

Multiple sources said that Mr Keelty had fallen out with former commissioner Mr Colvin, ACLEI and serving senior AFP officers over the saga. In his statement, Mr Keelty said: "These matters could have been dealt with very easily at the start by someone [from the AFP] saying to me: 'I think you're going to be too busy to see BRS.' Nothing more needed to be said."

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