Daryl Maguire: Ex-MP all smiles despite visa fraud conspiracy verdict

Disgraced former politician Daryl Maguire’s insistence he knew nothing of a conspiracy to create false visa applications for Chinese nationals has been rejected by a jury.

Maguire, the 67-year-old ex-partner of a former NSW premier, was found guilty in the Downing Centre District Court on Friday of conspiring to create the bogus applications for 10 Chinese nationals purporting to employ them at businesses in Wagga Wagga in the NSW Riverina region.

The former Liberal member for Wagga Wagga had denied he was part of any fraudulent scheme, saying he merely helped businesses looking for foreign workers.

But prosecutors told the jury Maguire feigned ignorance after being told by a concerned business owner of dodgy cash payments being offered to bring overseas workers down under.

“It’s a bit odd they’re paying me cash; what is going on here?” one of the business owners asked him in early 2015.

“I don’t want to know about it,” the then-Wagga Wagga MP allegedly said.

Prosecutor Sean Flood SC said the veteran politician conspired with his associate Maggie Wang - also known as Maggie Logan - to bring 10 Chinese nationals unlawfully into the country.

Maguire identified businesses which could act as purported visa sponsors before introducing them to Wang, the jury heard.

A real estate agent, vineyard, accountant and furniture store were some of the local firms the imported workers would be employed by for two years. But instead, many never worked at the firms at all, Mr Flood said.

Wang would pay business owners $30,000 to $60,000 stuffed into envelopes for their part in the scheme, Mr Flood said.

After a meeting at Sydney Airport in May 2013, the owner of the Wagga Wagga RSL club decided not to partake in the visa proposal after a potential Chinese applicant could not say exactly where he was from in the country.

The business owner was encouraged to lie to immigration officials if they turned up asking where the worker was, the jury was told.

But his barrister argued Maguire was simply a prominent politician who had often flown to China to facilitate trade with smaller businesses in the Riverina area.

Local business owners wanting skilled labour would approach Maguire, who would then direct them onto Wang, the jury heard.

Ian McLachlan argued there was no evidence his client, who entered NSW parliament in 1999, played any part in sending false or misleading documents to the immigration department.

He contended immigration law was complex and the MP would not have known forms contained false or misleading information.

As a result of the verdict, it can be revealed Maguire’s conviction and subsequent jail sentence were wiped on appeal in the lead-up to the visa trial.

Maguire, whose clandestine relationship with then-premier Gladys Berejiklian triggered her exit from politics, was convicted of misleading a corruption probe about potential profits from a major property deal.

He was sentenced to 10 months in prison in August 2025 but was granted bail an hour later pending appeal.

Judge Justin Smith in March upheld Maguire’s appeal, quashing his conviction and ordering the charge be dismissed.

The Crown had alleged Maguire misled the Independent Commission Against Corruption about his dealings with former Sydney councillor Michael Hawatt on a potential property development, in which Maguire could have received about $720,000 in commission.

Public airing of the corruption probe, including recorded phone calls discussing the development, triggered Maguire’s retirement from parliament in 2018.

He made headlines two years later when it emerged he had been in a secret “close personal relationship” for at least five years with Ms Berejiklian while she was treasurer and then premier.

Ms Berejiklian was not accused of any criminal behaviour and said the relationship ended in 2020.

Maguire will be sentenced for the visa fraud conspiracy at a later date.

He remains on bail.