Eman Sharobeem guilty of corrupt conduct, ICAC finds
FORMER Australian of the Year finalist Eman Sharobeem was corrupt in spending almost $800,000 of public money to fund a lavish lifestyle, buying herself and her family cars, $13,000 worth of jewellery and Botox, the ICAC has found.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE Independent Commission Against Corruption has found former Australian of the Year finalist Eman Sharobeem was corrupt in spending almost $800,000 of public money to fund a lavish lifestyle, buying herself and her family cars, $13,000 worth of jewellery and Botox.
The Sydney-based multicultural advocate was also found to have “engaged in serious corrupt conduct” by falsely representing herself to be a qualified psychologist with a PhD in psychology and treating clients.
The ICAC recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions now take over the case to consider prosecuting Ms Sharobeem.
No findings of wrongdoing were found in relation to anyone other than Ms Sharobeem
The colourful boss of the Fairfield-based Immigrant Women’s Health Service was investigated by Operation Tarlo and grilled by the ICAC last year over transferring money from the organisation into her own bank account.
MORE NEWS
Peachey agent’s explosive new claims against Titans
Man’s bikie club arrest as woman ‘tied to a pole’
Sydney cafe’s bizarre milk menu causes a stir
She was accused of submitting fake invoices — for services that were never provided — in order to buy a Mercedes Benz for her husband, leather sofas, a fountain for her home, liposuction for her son, Botox injections for her, clothes and groceries.
“The nature of her (Ms Sharobeem’s) misconduct was serious,” the ICAC report released on Wednesday says.
“This is because at the relevant time she was the head of an agency predominantly funded by public moneys to provide important services to women and children in need, whose funds she deprived in large amounts motivated by greed to benefit herself and her family.”
The Commission finds that, between 2007 and early 2016, Ms Sharobeem improperly exercised her official functions, including transferring $443,000 of the charity’s funds to her own bank account, to reimburse the cost of goods and services she had purchased for personal use, while “knowing she was not entitled to such reimbursements”.
She also used the ethnic charity’s funds for various other personal purchases and expenses, including $31,167.87 in payments to Sydney Water Corporation and the State Debt Recovery Office, $18,000 towards the purchase of a Mercedes car for her husband and $13,500 for personal jewellery.
The commission also found she “improperly exercised her official functions to benefit herself by arranging for the charity to pay $59,558.70 for work on her property at Fairfield, submitted $141,485 in invoices that falsely claimed she and her sons worked there as facilitators, and transferred $3,000 from the a bank account to her own to reimburse herself for payments she made for her son’s medical procedure.
The ICAC also found that between 2006 and 2016 Ms Sharobeem she pretended to be a qualified psychologist with a PhD in psychology, and provided psychological treatment to the health charity’s clients and patients referred to her.
“Ms Sharobeem’s false pretences created significant risks to the community in that she saw vulnerable people who required psychological treatment from a qualified professional,” the report said.
She also knowingly submitted false academic qualifications to the Community Relations Commission, and “thereby obtained financial advantage by being appointed to the paid position of part-time Commissioner”, and to the Anti-Discrimination Board (NSW), to be appointed as a paid board member.
“The ICAC is of the opinion that consideration should be given to obtaining the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions with respect to the prosecution of Ms Sharobeem for various offences,” a statement from the anti-watchdog agency stated.
It also made 12 corruption prevention recommendations to the South Western Sydney Local Health District and the Department of Family and Community Services, the two NSW Government agencies that substantially funded, respectively, Immigrant Womens Health Service and Non-English Speaking Housing Women’s Scheme.
“While the ICAC observes that reforms in recent years to the human services funding regime in NSW have improved the oversight of publicly-funded NGOs, it notes that the report and its corruption prevention recommendations provide a timely prompt for NGOs and their government funding agencies to assess whether the financial, administrative and governance controls they have in place effectively address the corruption risks in their operations,” the ICAC statement said.
Tally of Ms Sharobeem’s spending:
$3750 gold diamond ring and gold gentleman’s ring
$8000 diamond ring
$20000 diamond necklace and studs
$1200 dresser
$1287 TV and DVD player
$569 clothes dryer
$1029 pots and plants
$1530 wardrobe
Andrew’s Designer Jewellery: $13,500
Myer: $15,422
David Jones: $3440
S&S Hair and Beauty: $7498
Lily Room Cosmetics: $11,025
Harvey Norman: $16,000
Bing Lee: $7785
Bonnyrigg Garden Centre: $5428
Eye Concepts $2196
Balmain Dental Service $1811