Victoria Police detectives lay more than 1000 charges in fraud case against Geoff Clark and his family
Aboriginal leader Geoff Clark and his family have been hit with hundreds of fraud, theft and deception charges in a major escalation of a five-year police probe into his affairs.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The man who was once Australia’s most senior Aboriginal leader could face a lengthy jail sentence after he was charged with hundreds of fraud, deception and theft offences.
A five-year police investigation into Geoff Clark and his family has resulted in more than 1000 charges being laid this week over the alleged misuse of money from indigenous organisations in Victoria’s southwest.
Auditors have previously identified “anomalies” with $670,000 in the books of the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust, but the new charges could reportedly total more than $2 million.
The taxpayer-funded trust, run by Mr Clark for most of the past four decades, controls essential services for a small community in Victoria’s west.
Mr Clark, who is the former head of the now-defunct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, and his family were initially charged with a combined 82 fraud-related offences last year.
Fraud squad detectives laid another 514 charges against Mr Clark this week. Mr Clark’s wife, Trudy, is now facing another 456 charges.
New charges were also laid against their sons. Jeremy Clark, 45, faces another 90 charges and Aaron Clark, 37, an extra 28.
Mr Clark had been a powerful figure at the turn of the century, in his position in charge of ATSIC, but it was abolished in 2005 amid allegations of institutional corruption.
He has also been a key figure in the Framlingham Trust since he became its administrator in 1979.
It looks after essential services including water, roads, waste removal, emergency services and the management of community facilities and buildings.
A government-ordered report by forensic auditors BDO in 2011 identified “anomalies” totalling $670,000 in the Framlingham books between 2008 and 2010, when Mr Clark was in charge.
Transactions that were questioned included $55,000 spent on “Geoff’s deck” — an outdoor bar and kitchen at his house — and a $2000 “Christmas bonus” for Mr Clark.
He was ousted from the Framlingham board in 2011 but had clawed back control by 2015.
The Andrews Government appointed an administrator to run the trust in October last year amid concerns about conflicts of interest, management and corporate governance issues, and ongoing safety problems.
The Clark family is due to appear in Warrnambool Magistrates’ Court for a committal mention on April 5.