Ed fraud case off to police

THE Department of Education has referred Integrity Commission findings about a $2.6 million contracts scandal to Tasmania Police.

The Integrity Commission’s Operation Taurus found that an Education Department manager improperly awarded or influenced $2.6 million in contracts to produce digital education resources to help a friend.

The investigation found that the manager breached the State Service Code of Contact “in a way that was dishonest or improper”.

The findings related to the provision of online and multimedia learning resources to the department between 2015 and 2017.

The Integrity Commission found the manager did not declare the friendship and broke Education Department projects into a series of smaller parts to avoid having to go to competitive tender.

The manager produced 21 contract briefs capped at $50,000 for online multimedia and digital interactive projects that should have been subject to a $1 million tender.

That company developed tender specifications for work it tendered for and won at a price double that of other tenderers, the report said.

The department said the findings of the investigation had been referred to police.

“After the information came to light, the Department of Education commenced a Code of Conduct investigation, however, the employee resigned prior to the finalisation of the investigation,” a spokesman said.

“DoE reported the matter to the police and the Integrity Commission.”

“As a result of the matter, DoE reviewed its procurement processes and has introduced increased internal controls around procurement processes,” the spokesman said.

“The department is currently considering further actions following the release of the Integrity Commission Report.”