A female prosecutor accused of sexualised relationships with prison inmates is facing 12 additional charges of knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime, allegedly accepting thousands of dollars in exchange for confidential information.
Organised crime figure Sargon Namat, who allegedly paid her cash for names and addresses, has since been charged with conspiracy to murder, kidnapping and detaining alleged victims for ransom.
Vanessa O’Bryan is now being prosecuted alongside Namat, who allegedly used the codename ’50cent’ to communicate with her through an encrypted messaging application, over the alleged exchange of money for secret files.
One of the men with whom the 32-year-old lawyer allegedly had a sexualised relationship is convicted gangland murderer Joshua Baines.
O’Bryan and Namat are due to appear at Downing Centre Local Court later this month. O’Bryan remains suspended without pay from her position as a lawyer with the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions while on bail.
O’Bryan now faces 20 charges, including allegations that she knowingly dealt with proceeds of crime involving sums of up to $15,000 and, as a public official, engaged in misconduct by maintaining sexualised relationships with inmates in correctional facilities.
In addition to being banned from all state prisons, she is prohibited from using social media and from possessing more than one mobile phone or SIM card.
Her bail conditions also prohibit her from using or possessing ‘any encrypted device or any means of communicating via encrypted applications, including but not limited to WhatsApp, Snapchat, Wickr, Viber, KIK Messenger, Zoom, Discord, WeChat, Telegram or Signal’.
Prosecutor Vanessa O’Bryan (pictured), accused of sexualised relationships with prison inmates, faces 12 new charges over allegations she exchanged information with criminals for cash
O’Bryan is being prosecuted alongside organised crime figure Sargon Namat (pictured), who allegedly used the codename ’50cent’ to contact her through an encrypted messaging application
Suspended DPP lawyer O’Bryan came under suspicion after effectively reporting herself to police over abusive texts about Terry Sampson, a violent repeat offender and inmate with whom she allegedly had an affair
Documents previously tendered to the court outlined police concerns about the information O’Bryan allegedly supplied to underworld figures and the potential risks to individuals and ongoing legal proceedings.
O’Bryan allegedly exchanged hundreds of messages with Baines between May 2023 and January 2025, purportedly for the purpose of pursuing an intimate relationship with him.
The court heard earlier this year that she was ‘not only willing to have sexual relationships with inmates, but also compromise police investigations as a result of those relationships’.
As a condition of her bail, O’Bryan must not contact or attempt to contact anyone incarcerated in a correctional facility, either directly or through another person, except in her capacity as a legal representative.
Police further allege that she accessed confidential files while working as a DPP solicitor and compromised investigations through her alleged relationships with inmates.
The investigation began after O’Bryan reported receiving abusive messages about Terry Sampson, a violent repeat offender and one of the inmates with whom she allegedly had a relationship.
Police allege O’Bryan effectively brought herself to their attention after reporting messages sent by Sampson’s then-girlfriend, Sharna Cain.
‘I swear you and Terry aren’t getting away with this hahaha big lawyer I’m coming for you,’ Cain wrote.
O’Bryan has been suspended without pay
Convicted gangland murderer Joshua Baines (above) is one of the men with whom O’Bryan allegedly had a sexualised relationship
Cain pleaded guilty to intimidation and received a 12-month community correction order.
Police facts allege that, during a three-way call involving O’Bryan, Cain and Sampson, O’Bryan made comments suggesting she had a sexualised relationship with Sampson.
‘The accused is a DPP solicitor and former defence solicitor who has had access to high-level criminals on a professional and personal level,’ the police facts allege.
In October last year, police raided O’Bryan’s home in Ballina, in the NSW Northern Rivers region, where she worked from the DPP’s Lismore office.
Investigators seized mobile phones, computers and documents before arresting her and suspending her from her position.
Court documents seen by Our News Outlet allege that, on three occasions in August and September 2023, Namat ‘corruptly give or offer Vanessa O’Bryan at her request $5,000 for providing names and addresses of persons connected or involved in organised crime.
Namat was later charged with conspiring to murder a man at Wetherill Park and allegedly kidnapping another man for ransom in St Marys. He was also charged with wounding that man with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
O’Bryan has not been charged over those allegations and does not face any violent offence.
Vanessa O’Bryan reports to police at Windsor while on bail under strict conditions prohibiting her from using or possessing encrypted devices or communicating through encrypted applications
O’Bryan was initially charged with three counts of misconduct in public office, two counts of accessing restricted data and one count of hindering the discovery of evidence.
She was later accused of knowingly obtaining a material benefit from a criminal group and knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime with an intention to conceal them.
The number of charges alleging she knowingly dealt with proceeds of crime has risen from 10 to 12 and could increase further as DPP lawyers review hundreds of files and collect additional evidence.
O’Bryan’s name and those of the inmates with whom she allegedly had relationships were initially suppressed. That order has since been lifted, although some names remain protected.
She is alleged to have had sexualised relationships with prisoners and maintained a ‘prolonged association with a number of criminals’.
Namat faces three corruption-for-benefit allegations over claims he paid O’Bryan $5,000 for classified DPP information.
He is accused in three counts of offering an inducement or reward to O’Bryan during conversations in which police allege she and ’50cent’ discussed exchanging names and addresses for cash.
One address was allegedly worth $5,000, while other amounts identified in the proceeds of crime allegations against O’Bryan, involving unnamed donors, range from $80 to $500 and $1,000.
In April this year, Our News Outlet confronted O’Bryan as she arrived at Windsor Police Station to report under her bail conditions, after she appeared to have been involved in a road-rage confrontation with a man in a ute who had cut her off at a nearby intersection.
As she entered the station, she yelled at a news photographer, repeatedly stood up and sat down in agitation, and declined to answer questions about the charges alleging she had sexualised relationships with inmates.
‘I have nothing to say to you,’ she said.
A spokesperson for the ODPP issued a statement after O’Bryan’s practising certificate was cancelled, saying the organisation took ‘all criminal accusations very seriously and continues to co-operate closely with NSW Police’.
‘A full internal investigation will take place after the criminal investigation has concluded.’
