Embezzler’s astounding government work history
A convicted embezzler employed as a financial counsellor by Families SA had been twice charged with serious misconduct in a previous period of employment with the State Government, documents reveal.
Melissa Green was “suspended from duty in relation to allegations of misconduct” in 2005, the documents state.
They also show a second investigation in 2007 alleged that during her first period of suspension she allowed false information to be given to a Magistrates Court.
Green was later employed in the private sector with an employment reference from the State Government, the employer confirmed.
Two years later Green was charged with the embezzlement of $118,000 from that private sector employer.
Education Minister Jennifer Rankine has refused to respond to a list of questions InDaily asked about Green’s employment, the alleged misconduct investigations or the reference provided.
The documents, supplied after a Freedom of Information application, show Green’s troubled work history with the State Government before she was re-engaged by the same department.
The heavily redacted 63 pages show Green was suspended on misconduct allegations in 2005 when she appeared before a Magistrate on charges of driving while disqualified.
In that court hearing, Green is claimed to have “indicated that you were on maternity leave from the public service when in fact you were suspended in relation to allegations of misconduct”.
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That court appearance then led to a second set of “disgraceful and/or improper conduct” charges for “allowing information to be placed before the Magistrate’s Court sitting at Elizabeth which you knew to be false”, the documents state.
The released documents include a “disciplinary recommendation” which has been blacked out.
At the time of the recommendation, however, Green had already left the department and was working in the private sector.
The documents appear to conflict with advice given to InDaily by Rankine in August this year when we revealed Families SA, part of the Education and Child Development Department, had employed Green as a financial counsellor when its staff were aware Green was awaiting sentence on 16 embezzlement charges.
The department staff had also supplied supportive references to the court when it considered whether to suspend Green’s jail sentence.
Rankine told InDaily in August Green had “been on leave without pay from October 2004 to December 2006.”
The FoI documents, however, state that prior to and including November 2005, Ms Green was “suspended from duty in relation to allegations of misconduct”.
Rankine has declined to confirm or clarify her statement that Green was on leave without pay or whether she was suspended.
Rankine had also told InDaily that Green’s first period of State Government employment ended in December 2006 and that she had “commenced employment with a private business”.
The FoI documents, however, show the Department of Families and Communities (where Families SA was previously located) commenced disciplinary proceedings against Green in May 2007, citing her as “an employee of the Department”.
Rankine also declined to respond to our question: “why did the Department re-employ Ms Green in 2010, when it had been engaged in separate investigations into misconduct by her in 2005 and 2007?”
When first queried by InDaily about Green’s employment Rankine’s office claimed her department had been kept in the dark about the court proceedings against Green.
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“Ms Green’s signed clearance application declaration dated the 5 July 2010 does not declare previous or current professional disciplinary proceedings or any action that might lead to such proceedings in any jurisdiction,” a spokesperson said.
The FoI documents, however, reveal that the Government itself held documentation relating to disciplinary proceedings and court proceedings.
The FoI officer stated in a letter accompanying the documents, dated 25 October, that: “While she was employed by DCSI, Ms Green was subject to disciplinary action in respect to a number of issues relating to her employment with the department.
“In the course of undertaking investigations into those matters, the department became aware that Ms Green had been charged with, but had failed to advise the Chief Executive of a range of offences that were punishable by imprisonment.”
Court records viewed by InDaily confirm that in the period of her first employment with the State Government Green faced various Courts on a range of charges.
In February 2002 she was convicted for drink driving, running a red light and driving while disqualified, resulting in a suspended jail sentence.
In July 2002 Green was found guilty of possessing cannabis and delivering a prohibited item to a prisoner, although no conviction was recorded on the latter charge.
In September of that year she was again found to be driving while disqualified and placed on a 15 month good behaviour bond.
In October 2004 she lost her licence for three years after another drink driving offence and in November 2005 faced court again for driving while disqualified.
It was this court hearing that would lead to the departmental misconduct charges for placing false information before a Magistrate.
After a period of private sector employment which ended after the discovery she had embezzled her employer out of $118,000, Green was again employed by the State Government; first with Housing SA and then with the Families SA where she worked with “families at risk”.
Shadow Education Minister David Pisoni told InDaily today the serious questions around the Green case needed to be answered by the Minister.
“How can South Australians have any confidence in this department or in the Weatherill Labor Government when Minister Rankine refuses to answer these important questions?
“Mr Weatherill said serious questions deserve serious answers, so why won’t Minister Rankine be open and transparent about this issue?”
After InDaily revealed Green was promoted to a position as financial counsellor while awaiting sentencing on the embezzlement convictions, department head Tony Harrison opened a new inquiry into her employment.
Last month Harrison told InDaily he had terminated Green’s employment.
He said he is continuing an inquiry into how and why work colleagues provided glowing references to the Supreme Court when it decided to suspend her 15 month jail sentence.
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