Top reef scientist on fraud charges
A CLIMATE scientist who did research on the Great Barrier Reef for the Federal Government is accused of ripping off taxpayers to the tune of $ 556,508 by claiming bogus research expenses for seven years.
Authorities have frozen the superannuation and long- service leave of former career public servant Daniel Alongi, pending a trial.
Police allege Alongi, from the Townsville suburb of Annandale, created an elaborate fiction as a ruse to claim bogus expenses during his time working for the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Alongi, well regarded in the science industry, is alleged to have pretended paying for radio isotopes from the US and to have samples analysed in US laboratories for his Great Barrier Reef ( GBR) research.
He told his boss he could “get a discount” on isotopes because he was a US citizen and claimed he was measuring the carbon levels in “sediment core samples” taken from the GBR. He has admitted to police he made false invoices, credit card state- ments and created fake email trails to claim expenses over seven years, court documents state.
He told police the only claims he could verify as genuine were for work- related travel, a court has heard.
Details of the 59- year- old father of two’s admissions in police interviews were revealed after the Australian Federal Police successfully applied to the District Court in Brisbane to freeze his $ 903,141 in superannuation and $ 82,000 in long service and annual leave credits.
He was charged with fraud on September 6 after the AFP raided his home and his office in the AIMS headquarters at Cape Cleveland, seizing computers and paperwork.
Dr Alongi worked at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, which is a Federal Government statutory authority, for 26 years as an expert in mangroves and coral reefs.
The authority operates under the umbrella of the Department of Industry and Science.
AIMS suspended Dr Alongi on September 7 and he resigned on December 10, an AIMS spokesman said.
On October 7 the District Court agreed to freeze his superannuation and leave pay under proceeds of crime laws.
Dr Alongi was allegedly busted after his boss saw some of her signatures appeared to be forged and launched an investigation.
Brisbane- based AFP agent William Tooth told the District Court that Mr Alongi was alleged to have made 172 claims for reimbursement of $ 607,292, with $ 556,508 of this alleged to be fraudulent.
Dr Alongi is due to appear in the Townsville Magistrates Court on January 18.