Beth Morgan was in hiding yesterday as she waited to learn whether criminal charges would be brought against her.
The former Wollongong City Council planner has not commented since the Independent Commission Against Corruption public hearings in February painted her as a central figure in the scandal that has rocked the city.
On Wednesday, the commission found she had engaged in corrupt conduct and recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions consider prosecuting her for 27 criminal offences.
Her involvement in the explosive scandal began in 2004.
During March that year, Ms Morgan would often start her day by travelling the short distance from her home to the North Beach Kebab shop on Bourke St.
Just five months earlier she'd given birth to her daughter and taken five months' maternity leave. The break had given her time to contemplate her future.
She was sick and tired of her middle-management council job and was tossing around the idea of beginning her own consultancy.
But she needed clients.
Among the regular faces at the so-called table of knowledge outside the kebab shop were developers Frank Vellar and Glen Tabak.
As medium-sized developers Mr Vellar and Mr Tabak knew of Ms Morgan and over steaming cups of coffee they fell for her. Or she fell for them.
Within six weeks of her first appearance at the table she was sleeping with Mr Tabak. About two weeks later she was also sleeping with Mr Vellar.
Both men were on the verge of submitting development proposals on a scale not before seen in Wollongong.
As the relationship began in April, Mr Tabak was putting the finishing touches on a development he called Victoria Square. Costing $31 million, the building vastly exceeded the planning controls. The maximum floor space ratio allowed was 1.5:1. Victoria Square had 3.11:1. The maximum height was 11m - Mr Tabak's proposal was 31m.
Pre-lodgement advice from the council had stated that "the proposal would not be supported if lodged".
A short walk from the Victoria Square land was Mr Vellar's Quattro site. His proposal sat on a prominent 10,400sqm triangular site between Keira and Flinders streets. The council prohibited the erection of a building with a floor space ratio of more than 1.5:1 or a height exceeding 11m. Quattro's floor space ratio was 4.25:1 and towered over the area at 48m.
While Victoria Square was being assessed, Mr Tabak, through his company Tabak Cement Rendering, assisted Ms Morgan with renovations to her house. He asked her to pay the $2637 owing for the job "in order to make it look legitimate", but later paid her back $2200.
Another cash injection from Mr Tabak occurred in September 2004 when, as he helped Ms Morgan put her infant daughter into her car, he threw in a bundle of cash, which totalled $3300.
Victoria Square was approved within 83 days. The average time for large-scale developments was 181 days.
Mr Tabak and Ms Morgan's affair ended in mid-July 2004, while the relationship with Mr Vellar lasted until ICAC's public hearings in February 2008.
Ms Morgan received lavish gifts from Mr Vellar, including holidays, a television, wine, numerous cash payments and a watch.
As well as his wife, Mr Vellar was also sleeping with two other women while he was with Ms Morgan.
Despite public opposition Quattro was approved on August 18, 2005. Five days later Mr Vellar lodged another proposal, this time for the North Beach Bathers' Pavilion redevelopment.
As with Quattro, at Mr Vellar's request Ms Morgan was appointed as the assessment officer. As she had with Quattro, Ms Morgan leaked confidential information to him.
His $3.5 million redesign of the building was, however, unpopular. It attracted 50 submissions - most of which objected to the proposal.
If the building had not been placed on the NSW heritage register on March 2, 2005, Mr Vellar's proposal may have succeeded.
When ICAC investigators raided Mr Vellar's house in December 2006 they found a heritage report on the pavilion bearing the words "Very Confidential" in Mr Vellar's handwriting.
The report found Mr Vellar hoped or expected that "because of his personal relationship with Ms Morgan, she would exercise her official functions in relation to the assessment of the DA in a way favourable to his interests".
Mr Vellar has not responded to the report.
Mr Tabak has vehemently rejected ICAC's findings of corrupt conduct.
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