The ABC’s Mark Willacy reports (4.9.17) on investigations by the Crime and Corruption Commission into the accounting practices and overall accountability of a Queensland Police Service fraud squad.
‘A private fundraising project run by Queensland’s fraud squad, which the head of the state’s corruption watchdog says promoted the risk of corruption, raised $800,000 in just three years, the ABC can reveal.
‘Project Synergy held conferences and symposiums at luxury resorts and sold sponsorships to private companies for up to $25,000.
‘Packages to last year’s symposium at the Gold Coast’s luxury Sanctuary Cove Resort included expensive tickets to a gala dinner, where attendees were encouraged to “dress in your best disco wear or glamorous gala gear and boogie the night away!”.
‘But Project Synergy was later investigated by the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) over “allegations related to the misuse of funds and QPS [Queensland Police Service] resources, misuse of corporate credit cards and inappropriate travel practices”.
‘The CCC found the fund was not transparent, had incomplete and inaccurate records, and “created a significant fraud risk to the QPS”.