Huge profit for Vic Ultranet developer

A key figure in the development of the Victorian education department's failed Ultranet IT system pocketed up to $10 million from selling his company to the project's developer.

Greg Tolefe told the IBAC anti-corruption inquiry on Thursday that he sold his company CingleVue, which was a major player in the complex Ultranet tender, for $11 million to CSG, the company later awarded the contract.

Mr Tolefe denied claims he had bullied and blackmailed his former co-directors Greg Martin and Frank Aloisio out of a multi-million dollar payday.

Mr Tolefe said he alone had brokered the deal after the pair had sold their shares in CingleVue to him, and they were paid adequately.

Counsel assisting Ian Hill QC suggested that $11 million was a lot of money to pay for a business that had no physical assets or staff and CSG must have been paying for the company's Victorian education department contacts.

Mr Tolefe said CSG was paying for a software code that CingleVue had developed.

"It is not as though you are an honest man is it Mr Tolefe?" Mr Hill asked the visibly frustrated witness.

The deal, which included a $5 million offer and an extra $6 million `earn-out', was yet to be concluded, Mr Tolefe told the inquiry.

It is not clear how much money he has received so far.

Mr Tolefe also strongly denied claims that he used "blackmail" techniques to get Oracle executive Greg Martin to vouch for him during a court battle over the sale of CingleVue.

He pleaded guilty to fraud charges in Western Australia in 2011, but did it to protect education department officials, he said.

Mr Tolefe is expected to be questioned again on Monday.