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Bikies 'corrupting state officials'

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User Comment: LEAD Technologies Inc. V1.01 Source: AdelaideNow

SECRET information compiled by Police Commissioner Mal Hyde contains strong evidence bikie gang members have "repeatedly corrupted" public officials, an independent report has found.

Retired District Court Judge Alan Moss has been granted access to documents underpinning Mr Hyde's bid to declare the Rebels an outlaw gang for a review of the State Government's anti-association laws.

Key sections of the report have been blacked out to prevent public disclosure of sensitive information.

Mr Hyde's application, made on December 9 last year, remains live despite then-attorney-general Michael Atkinson's decision not to rule until the resolution of a High Court challenge brought by the Finks gang.

A central point of the police case against the Rebels was that members had "repeatedly corrupted public officials", Mr Moss states.

His audit of 26 randomly-selected police documents used in the case uncovered details on four allegations of blackmail, corruption of public officials or possession of police intelligence.

Secret evidence substantiating all cases was either "completely" or "fairly" reliable, he found.

"In every case I found that there was material in that declaration which, on its face, was capable of offering some support to the various allegations in the Commissioner's application," he writes.

Publicly available information on alleged official corruption details instances of State Intelligence Branch information being found in the home of a Rebel and an administration clerk illegally issuing driving licences to friends.

Attorney-General John Rau said police did not brief him on live investigations and that the ongoing presence of gang-related corruption of public officials could not be ruled out.

"I don't think there is any doubt that there are some groups operating in our community  ... which are completely hostile to good government and the rule of law," he said. "These people have the resources and the lack of scruple that allows them to try and do almost anything.

"Some of these individuals could be wearing suits and ties, apparently leading respectable lives. If their activities involve co-ordinating  ... illegal things like importation or sale of drugs, they're just as much in the frame as some bloke on a motorcycle with a goatee."

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