Former Victorian Liberal state director Damien Mantach jailed

DISGRACED former Liberal party Victorian director Damien Mantach has been jailed for five years for stealing $1.55 million from the party by creating false invoices for mailing and marketing campaigns.

Former Victorian Liberal state director Damien Mantach has been jailed for five years.

DISGRACED former Liberal party Victorian director Damien Mantach has been jailed for five years for stealing $1.55 million from the party by creating false invoices for mailing and marketing campaigns.

The 42-year-old stole the money amid a collapsing marriage, crushing debts and problems with alcohol, gambling and depression.

“Your wife seemed distant and you felt you were a failure as a husband and father, and that there was nothing you could do to make your wife happy,” County Court Judge Liz Gaynor said this morning.

Mantach made full confessions to his crimes after Liberal Party bean counters noticed overspending in August last year and he has been in jail since is arrest in November.

In prison he teaches other prisoners to read and runs a course in politics.

Judge Gaynor accepted Mantach was remorseful and his humiliation complete, but jailed him for five years, ordering him to serve at least two years and eight months before being eligible for parole.

“At the end of the day, however, Mr Mantach, this was protracted, deceitful, deliberate and planned offending. It involved a grave breach of trust inherent in your responsible position which also allowed you to camouflage your conduct,” Judge Gaynor said.

Mantach blew the money on shares, an $81,000 car, paying his mortgage and spent $611,031 on a cafe called Gusto to please his wife, who was oblivious to his offending.

He has repaid $535,000 of the stolen money, and hopes to make further reparations when his divorce is finalised.

The Liberal Party initially suspected about $800,000 was stolen, but Mantach made full admissions after being quizzed about the phony invoices.

“Your admissions, from the first, exceeded the extent of your dishonesty as it was then known. Your readiness to confess the whole and provide investigators with the necessary material documentation was quite singular,” Judge Gaynor said.

Mantach grew up in Launceston and worked at McDonalds and the Commonwealth Bank before working as a media advisor for a Tasmanian Liberal Member of Parliament.

He quickly rose the party’s ranks, becoming Tasmanian director in 2005 eventual rising to the same role in Victoria.