Palm Island Mayor in CCC probe
PALM Island Mayor Alf Lacey has been charged by Queensland’s peak corruption watchdog for alleged fraud exceeding $100,000.
The Crime and Corruption Commission revealed Cr Lacey, 52, and a Townsville woman, 46, had been charged as part of an ongoing investigation into the beleaguered council. Cr Lacey has been suspended from duties but is not barred from the election race meaning he could be voted in on March 28.
PALM Island Mayor Alf Lacey and a 46-year-old Townsville woman have been charged by Queensland’s peak corruption watchdog for alleged fraud exceeding $100,000.
The Crime and Corruption Commission on Wednesday confirmed it had charged a 52year-old Palm Island councillor and a 46-year-old Townsville woman with one count each of allegedly committing a fraud exceeding $100,000.
The Townsville Bulletin can reveal Cr Lacey, who is not seeking re-election as Mayor at the March 28 election but is a council candidate, has also been charged with allegedly failing to maintain his register of interests, which is a requirement under the Local Government Act 2009.
Cr Lacey could not be contacted for comment.
A Local Government Department spokesman confirmed Cr Lacey had been automatically suspended under the Act for the alleged disqualifying offence charge, but remains eligible for election.
If he is elected on March 28, Cr Lacey would be automatically suspended, with pay, until the matter is finalised.
The pair are due to appear in Townsville Magistrates Court on April 7.
The CCC said they could not comment further because the matter is now before the court and the investigation remains ongoing.
Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council’s deputy chief executive officer and financial services director John Mugambi Mwamba and a former accountant had previously been charged by the CCC as part of the same investigation.
Mwamba, on March 11, on top of the 24 alleged fraud offences he was already facing, was charged with a further 58 fraud offences and one offence of stealing as a servant, with the alleged offences dating back to June 2014.
He is due to appear in Townsville Magistrates Court on April 7.
The initial tranche of charges from last year, to which Mwamba has not entered pleas, alleges Mwamba defrauded the council of $11,684.48 over nearly two years.