Councillor fury after almost $400k given to alleged fraudster
Abeselom Nega spent years in the media spotlight talking about how he was helping rehabilitate troubled African youth in Melbourne. Police have accused him of stealing $4.2 million from the government and now there’s a new revelation.
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A City of Melbourne councillor has criticised her own council for its lack of scrutiny when handing over almost $400,000 in funds to an alleged fraudster and gambling addict.
Abeselom Nega, 54, is facing dozens of serious charges including stealing $4.2m from state government-funded programs for troubled youths between 2008–2019.
The Sunday Herald Sun can reveal the City of Melbourne entered a two-year funding agreement with Mr Nega in 2015 for similar youth employment programs under the African Australian Community Partnership.
The $130,000-a-year agreement involving his company, iEmpower, and the Melbourne Employment Forum was extended for a third year but came to an abrupt end in June 2018 after questions were raised over the integrity of the programs.
Councillor Beverley Pinder described it as a significant lost opportunity to help young people.
“The funding was given and they were left to their own devices. The scrutiny levels were not high enough,” she said.
“You can’t just give money and walk away. This is ratepayers’ money that we are not administering appropriately,” she said.
Barry Berih said he did not get any job support after completing Mr Nega’s employment program.
“There was nothing happening. It was training and that was it … no workshops or programs that you could actually benefit from,” he said.
When asked why Mr Nega’s funding ceased, a City of Melbourne spokeswoman said “all grant recipients need to fulfil the obligations of their contract”.
Victoria Police Fraud and Extortion Squad detectives charged Mr Nega after a two-year investigation.
Some of the allegations include that he gambled $2.4m in funding at Crown Casino and conspired with his son to break the leg of iEmpower’s operations manager, Richard Ryan, who had raised concerns about the company.
Mr Nega was considered a prominent leader in Melbourne’s African community and spoke to the media about his efforts to rehabilitate youths responsible for serious and violent crime, linking disengagement to a lack of education and jobs.
Mr Nega intends to contest the charges against him.