Corrupt public servant Paul Andrew Robinson’s bail revoked after guilty pleas to $300,000 abuse of public office charges
A $300,000 prison scandal has landed a senior public servant in the very cells he was meant to help build, after years of secret court hearings.
When the Department for Correctional Services sought tenders to build new prison cells, senior public servant Paul Andrew Robinson saw an opportunity to get rich.
Using his insider knowledge, Robinson embarked upon a “multifaceted, multidimensional and persistent” course of fraud that channelled $300,000 of taxpayer funds into his pocket.
That was seven years ago – this week, Robinson looked on in shock as the District Court revoked his bail, making him a resident of the very cells from which he sought to profit.
After years of closed-court secrecy, The Advertiser can reveal Robinson has pleaded guilty to, and will be sentenced for, three counts of abuse of public office.
Although he has admitted guilt, and prosecutors say a long prison sentence is “inevitable”, mystery continues to surround the mechanism of his offending.
On July 15, 2019, the Independent Commission Against Corruption announced it had made two arrests after “an extensive and long-running operation”.
It alleged Robinson, 46, of Seaton, and his business partner, Mount Gambier plasterer Matthew Laurie Patzel, 53, had “colluded to corrupt” a tender process.
In court, the watchdog alleged the duo tried to steer the Yatala Labour Prison redevelopment to benefit themselves between June 2018 and July 2019.
It further alleged 17 lever-arch folders of evidence, comprising of hundreds of thousands of documents and over 23,000 telephone intercepts, supported its case.
Robinson, it alleged, masterminded the scheme and abused his role in DCS’ asset services branch to disclose confidential information to Mr Patzel.
He, they alleged, “worked behind the scenes” while Mr Patzel was “the front man” who secured the contract for a business that, secretly, they jointly owned.
In May 2021, Robinson and Mr Patzel each pleaded not guilty to multiple abuse of public office and corruption charges and were ordered to stand trial.
Instead of a trial, however, those pleas triggered a four-year series of closed-court hearings that eventually saw prosecutors drop all criminal charges against Mr Patzel.
The Advertiser understands the state government intends to pursue a civil damages claim against Mr Patzel.
On the first day of his trial on July 14, 2025, Robinson instead pleaded guilty to three counts of abuse of public office, which prosecutors accepted.
The court, which has yet to hear details of his offending, permitted him to remain on bail on the promise he would repay $147,000 of the $297,000 stolen.
This week, prosecutors asked Robinson’s bail be revoked ahead of his “inevitable” prison term.
His offending, they said, was too “multifaceted, multidimensional and persistent” to warrant the lesser penalties of a suspended or home detention sentence.
Counsel for Robinson asked the court for “just a few weeks’ more” liberty, saying their client had shown “genuine rehabilitation” through his repayments and was needed by his family.
Judge Ian White conceded that was the case, but agreed with prosecutors that Robinson’s self-confessed offending was too serious for him to remain on bail any longer.
He remanded Robinson in custody for sentencing submissions in November.
