Former state MP Russell Northe pleads guilty of falsifying expense documents
Retired state MP Russell Northe has pleaded guilty to falsifying expense documents following an IBAC probe.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Retired state MP Russell Northe has admitted falsifying expense documents.
The former Morwell MP appeared via video link in Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court on Friday where he pleaded guilty to two counts of misconduct in public office by submitting financial documents and an audit certificate based on false information.
“Guilty,” he said when asked for his plea.
Northe was facing a further 43 charges from Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, the majority of which related to making and using false documents, but they were withdrawn at Friday’s hearing.
The offending took place between 2019 and 2020 while Northe was an independent MP.
A popular local football player prior to politics, Northe was elected to parliament in 2006 for the Nationals before he left the party in 2017 after citing mental health issues and a gambling addiction.
The following year he won the seat as an independent before announcing his retirement at the 2022 election.
Northe, who was granted bail, will appear in the County Court on August 28.
Man left with ‘life-changing injuries’ after horrific hit-run in Melbourne
A cowardly driver has been caught on camera leaving a man “for dead in the gutter” after they struck him and drove off in a brutal CBD hit-run. See the footage.
Changing a gearbox left this dad in the legal fight of his family’s life
Peter Boland is the sole carer for his quadriplegic, brain-injured son “PJ”. An obscure glitch in a gearbox upgrade has left the veteran truck driver, who has never lost his license, navigating a legal nightmare.