Corrupt former Labor MP Eddie Obeid leaves prison on parole

Disgraced former Labor MP Eddie Obeid has left jail on parole after he was found guilty misconduct while in public office.

Obeid was pictured being escorted from jail under a white umbrella on Wednesday morning, after almost four years behind bars.

The 81-year-old will spend the remainder of his seven-year sentence in the community under supervision.

In a statement, the NSW Parole Authority said Obeid would be barred from any paid or unpaid activity “involving the control of money or assets of other people or organisations”, under the conditions of his parole.

He is also forbidden of communicating or associating with any co-offenders, excluding his son, Moses, without prior approval from authorities.

Failure to comply with his parole conditions could result in the revocation of his bail and his return to custody.

Obeid was once considered a major powerbroker within the NSW Labor Party but was expelled in 2013.

He was the subject of ICAC hearings between 2012 and 2014 and was charged over misconduct in 2013.

Obeid pleaded not guilty but was twice convicted, including a separate set of charges relating to a mining lease over the Obeid’s family farm in Bylong.

Moses Obeid and former minister Ian Macdonald were also charged over the lease and found guilty.

NSW Crime Commissioner Michael Barnes earlier this year revealed that police were not pursuing Obeid for $30m made from the corrupt coal deal.

Mr Barnes told the ABC the millions were “sitting in a pot somewhere” and had gone into a “complex web of corporate discretionary trusts”.

“Some of the records we would need to prove our case in the Supreme Court are no longer available,” he said.

“And, there is the likelihood the Obeids might apply for a stay of proceedings, which they might well win.”

Obeid, Moses Obeid, and Macdonald all applied to the High Court in June to have their convictions tossed out.