Melbourne storm for former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale

FORMER mayor Paul Pisasale met with the Melbourne developer behind an Ipswich project on two interstate trips last year that are now tied up in fraud allegations.

• Replica truck among Pisasale claims

FORMER mayor Paul Pisasale met with the Melbourne developer behind an Ipswich project on two interstate trips last year that are now tied up in fraud allegations.

Pisasale is also accused of dishonestly gaining a benefit when he took a third trip out of Queensland in 2016.

Former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale is seen arriving at the Brisbane Magistrates Court in Brisbane on Monday. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

It was among a raft of allegations police will make in pursuing fraud charges against the once energetic former politician, who resigned in June last year and appeared in a sombre state in the Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday.

He had put his “heart and soul, a lot of hard work, into the city of Ipswich and its people”, he said outside court.

At the same time he also declined to comment on the charges.

Other charges include the once wildly popular politician having allegedly dishonestly used various council property for his own purposes between December 2013 and June 2017.

The items mentioned include cookware, sporting memorabilia, barbecues, electrical appliances, a replica truck, artwork and whisky.

He was further accused of corruption, by allegedly agreeing to “champion” Melbourne developer Chris Pinzone’s project in Ipswich’s Yamanto between November 2016 and May 2017.

Pisasale’s council register of interests show he met with Pinzone’s company CJP Qld on several occasions.

One meeting was in Melbourne in May 2017, on the same dates that make up one of the travel-fraud allegations by the CCC.

Mr Pinzone has been questioned by the CCC but has not been charged with any offence.

Pisasale had publicly intimated he had attended a Melbourne event starring celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, but it was later revealed a council staffer had attended the event after Pisasale declined an invitation.

The CCC also claimed Pisasale had committed fraud with another interstate trip between February 1 and February 4, 2017.

The then mayor had noted on his council register that he attended a meeting with CJP Qld on February 2 of that year.

A third travel charge relates to interstate travel between December 10 and 14 in 2016.

According to Pisasale’s council register of interests, he declared receiving a free ticket to see country music legend Keith Urban perform in Sydney on December 12, 2016.