A former Sydney councillor has told a corruption inquiry a Chinese property developer paid for his escort in China and secretly filmed him with the woman to "blackmail" him.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry is investigating whether former Hurstville and Georges River councillors Vincenzo Badalati, Philip Sansom and Constantine Hindi accepted kickbacks to favour developments between 2014 and 2021.
The inquiry on Tuesday was shown videos of Mr Badalati and Mr Sansom at a dinner with escorts in China in March 2013.
The videos were secretly recorded by property developer Ching Wah (Philip) Uy, whose company was the builder of a $29 million Treacy Street project in Hurstville — an 11-storey mixed-use apartment block.
In the video, Mr Badalati is seen holding hands with a woman in green pants as they enter a restaurant.
The councillor told the inquiry he believed Mr Uy paid for the escort as he could not recall paying himself.
He said he believed the developer recorded the videos to use against him in future.
"Having seen [the videos] I believe it was a blackmail tool," he said.
"And possibly used against you to influence your vote in planning decisions?" Counsel Assisting the Commission Zelie Heger said.
"Yes," he responded.
"I take it that … if this video had been shown to your family you would've been embarrassed about that," Ms Heger said.
"Absolutely," he responded.
Last month, Mr Badalati told the probe he accepted bribes of $70,000 from Mr Uy in exchange for his support of the Treacy Street project and another $100,000 for the Landmark Square development — a complex of 19-storey residential buildings.
The councillor voted in favour of Mr Uy's developments in 2016, against the recommendation of council staff.
On Tuesday, the inquiry was told Mr Badalati and Mr Hindi flew to China in April 2016 and attended a signing ceremony with property developers Wensheng Liu and Yuqing Liu that was related to one of the developments.
Mr Badalati said he was misled about the trip and believed they were in China to tour a waste energy plant but began to get suspicious the agreement was in relation to the Landmark Square development.
"You formed a suspicion you'd been invited to Tangshan, so that it looked like the local government supported this agreement?" Ms Heger asked.
"I didn't really think of that, but now I believe I was used for that," Mr Badalati responded.
On Monday, Mr Sansom told the probe he should have disclosed a conflict of interest regarding his relationship with Mr Uy when he voted in favour of the Treacy Street development.
The inquiry has previously heard the councillors regularly met with Mr Uy in China for "boys' weekends", with the developer often paying for their flights and hotel accommodation.
Mr Samson on Monday said he reimbursed Mr Uy for the flights.
The inquiry continues.
