Derrick Belan: Failed appeal for jailed union boss who defrauded $580k from members
A former union boss sent to prison in 2018 for spending over half a million dollars of members’ money on luxuries such as cruises, cars, botox and tattoos has received more bad news in court following a lengthy appeal process.
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A former union boss sent to prison in 2018 for spending over half a million dollars of members’ money on luxuries such as cruises, cars, botox and tattoos has seen his appeal to quash the jail sentence come crashing down in the NSW District Court.
Derrick Belan, 49, the former secretary of the National Union of Workers NSW branch, was jailed in 2018 for at least three years after being found guilty at trial of 59 charges.
The majority of those charges were dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception relating to corrupt dealings between 2010 and 2016.
Remarkably, about halfway through his jail sentence, he was granted bail and spent a year out of prison from September 2019 to September 2020 to appeal the convictions.
NSW District Court judge Michael King put an end to the lengthy and unsuccessful appeal process on Friday slamming Belan for showing no remorse and continuing to blame others for his offences.
“There was no remorse or contrition on behalf of the repellent who blamed his niece for his conduct if not also the union’s IT supplier,” he said.
Judge King had earlier returned a ruling in September on his conviction appeal, quashing just two of Belan’s 59 charges.
That led to Belan’s lawyer withdrawing a severity appeal on Friday and bringing an end to the appeal process.
“This is a matter that could have been disposed of far more expeditiously than what turned out to be the case,” Judge King said.
Belan must now complete his jail sentence as originally set down, of at least three years, meaning he will be eligible for parole in March 2022.
The court heard on Friday that during the appeal process Belan was effectively found guilty of spending about $580,000 of members’ money rather than $650,000, which he was sentenced for in 2018.
Belan’s corrupt conduct was first brought to light during an explosive royal commission into trade unions.
In June 2018, Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis sentenced him to four years jail with a non-parole of three years for instigating a “matrix of fraud” including by misusing union credit cards and making fake invoices.
Magistrate Ellis noted at the time he had shown no remorse.
His niece worked as a bookkeeper at the union and Belan blamed her for his offending, the court heard.
The National Union of Workers, formerly known as the Storemen and Packers Union, was led for many years by Belan’s late father Frank.