Mav centre of alleged fraud charge

ONE of Australia’s biggest Aboriginal corporations is alleging that former Glenorchy Council alderman Steve ‘Mav’ Mavrigiannakis ripped it off to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The West Australian reports that the alleged fraud included Mr Mavrigiannakis claiming accommodation expenses while staying at his mother’s flat and getting his bosses to buy him a second $60,000 company car.

The former alderman the claims.

The Gumala Corporation, which manages millions of dollars of iron ore royalties from Rio Tinto on behalf of the Banyjima, Innawonga and Nyiyaparli peoples, dumped Mr Mavrigiannakis as its chief denies executive in 2015 after years of complaints about financial management.

The Mercury newspaper reported the claims last November.

According to new reports, the corporation is using a Federal Court action to try to recoup money it says Mr Mavrigiannakis deprived them of in his years of stewardship — with their statement of claim revealing a series of alleged rorts.

One involved claims he paid for dozens of expensive meals at some of Perth’s top restaurants on his business credit card, before then claiming the same meal on expenses.

And it is alleged Mr Mavrigiannakis got the corporation to buy him a $60,000 Lexus to drive while in Perth, when he already had the use of a $65,000 Toyota Kluger at his base in Tom Price. Lawyers for Gumala also claim a travel and perks policy that Mr Mavrigiannakis wrote for himself in 2012 — a year after a government inquiry found many financial irregularities within the corporation — was designed “to provide an improper benefit” to the chief executive. This was on top of an annual salary of $399,000.

In total, the court action says, Gumala incurred losses of $235,000 in travel and other expenses, while more than $100,000 in credit card charges could not be accounted for.

The West Australian reported that Mr Mavrigiannakis has yet to file a defence but said after his removal that “there’s been no theft, no embezzlement, no impropriety”.

A case management hearing is scheduled next week.