NSW: ICAC recommends charges against Grains Board managers
SYDNEY, Aug 28 AAP - The NSW corruption watchdog has recommended criminal charges belaid against three senior managers of the collapsed NSW Grains Board.
In a report tabled in the NSW parliament today, the Independent Commission AgainstCorruption (ICAC) found senior managers had covered up losses, misled the board's directorsand falsified financial records.
The commission also found the former manager of the board's Queensland office, DarrenBizzell, had caused the organisation to lose $1 million after he had made a substantialprofit from improper private dealings.
ICAC recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) consider charging him withlarceny, obtaining money by deception and obtaining money by false or misleading statements.
It also recommended former managing director Graham Lawrence and former chief financialofficer John Fitzgerald be charged with publishing fraudulent statements.
And it found a fourth man, former board accountant Gregory Broadfoot, had also engagedin corrupt conduct.
Commissioner Irene Moss said the men's behaviour had compromised the integrity of theboard and impeded its proper functioning.
"Poor leadership by senior management led to a culture of fear and intimidation inthe grains board and allowed fraud and conflicts of interest to flourish," Ms Moss said.
"Commercial interests were valued over public duty interests, outcomes were valuedover processes and expediency was valued over accountability."
The board was set up in 1991 to market coarse grains and oilseeds such as barley, sorghum,oats, canola and soybeans.
It collapsed in late 2000 under operating losses of around $150 million.
AAP jh/hn/nf/mk/jlw c
KEYWORD: GRAINS
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