A FORMER contracts administrator for the NSW Fire Brigades admitted yesterday that when the Independent Commission Against Corruption inquired into him in October last year, he had told an administrator he would "shoot ya".

Christian Sanhueza, who with another former fire brigade contracts administrator, Clive Taylor, has been accused of defrauding the fire brigades by about $2.5 million over 20 months, said he had made the call to Groz Zrinski, whom he thought was carrying out covert surveillance on him.

A spy he had within the fire service, Patricia Xuereb, had told him Mr Zrinski might be driving past his home in an unmarked car. He had rung Mr Zrinski saying: "If I see you come past my house again, I am going to shoot ya!" That was after he had paid a visit to Mr Zrinski's mother.

He had also telephoned an architect, Rasem Guirguis, with whom he had had close dealings, and who he had thought was co-operating with the ICAC. He had referred to: "the shit that has happened with me and my children", talking of an ICAC raid on his home at Denham Court, Campbelltown, and said the same thing would happen to Mr Guirguis's family.

He had rung Ms Xuereb to find out the home address of the fire brigades logistics director, Phil Clark.

When Chris Ronalds, SC, counsel assisting ICAC, asked why he had done that, he said: "I don't know. At that point I was just angry."

A series of intercepted telephone calls that had followed the search of Mr Sanhueza's home on October 7 last year were played yesterday. In one tape, Mr Sanhueza said that he would accuse a fire brigades employee, Megan Green, of giving him confidential documents, a false allegation "possibly" provoked because she was preparing documents from the ICAC.