Bail conditions relaxed
FRESH details have emerged in court about the fraud offences allegedly committed by a high-ranking Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council executive.
John Mugambi Mwamba, deputy chief executive officer and financial services director for the council, appeared in Townsville Magistrates Court yesterday in a bid to amend his bail conditions.
Mwamba, who is facing 24 charges of fraud dating back to January 2017, has been suspended with pay from the council pending an internal investigation, the court was told. It was revealed in court Mwamba allegedly defrauded the council of $11,684.48 over nearly two years.
The largest amount of money in a single charge of fraud was $1650 and the smallest amount was $31.
Defence barrister Harvey Walters said the 16 strict bail conditions should never have been imposed and told the court Mwamba had received no financial benefit from the alleged fraud.
Mr Walters said one of the charges of fraud related to fees paid on a corporate credit card to a legal firm that he had been referred to by the council.
“That’s just to indicate the nature of the charges and what we would say is the minimal seriousness of it when one looks at these types of matters,” he said.
“Some of the other charges are, for instance, parking fines that have been paid on the corporate card.”
He said this was done to avoid further charges and the money would then be deducted from the employee’s wage.
Mr Walters said Mwamba handed himself in to police in Brisbane while on a business trip after receiving a phone call from investigators who were in Townsville. He was charged and given police bail.
“They look like a standard set of conditions for serious matters which have been imposed by officers who knew nothing about the case,” he said. “My client is very fearful; he has children at university, he has an eight-month-old baby … he may lose his employment”.
Under his previous bail conditions Mwamba was required to report weekly to Stuart Police Station, was to have no contact with Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council employees current and past, and was to have no contact with “specified persons”.
The court was not told who the “specified persons” were.
Mwamba was not allowed to access council systems, databases or finances, and was not allowed to attend places where the council conducts business. He was also not allowed to attend retail store Connors Menswear.
Police prosecutor Darryn Casson conceded the bail conditions were “quite onerous” considering the charges.
Magistrate Steven Mosch amended Mwamba’s bail conditions, allowing him to contact colleagues, access company computer systems and places where the council conducts business.
He will no longer have to report weekly and can now shop at Connors Menswear.
Mwamba’s case will return to Townsville Magistrates Court on August 15.