Families SA embezzler – cops called in
Police are investigating staff connected to a convicted embezzler at Families SA, a parliamentary committee heard today.
The Education Department is also investigating the case internally. Department head Tony Harrison told a hearing of the budget and finance committee that the inquiry “does reach out to the roles played by other individuals” relating to “criminal activity”.
He said that SAPOL was investigating issues to do with letters of support provided to a Families SA councillor who had been convicted of embezzlement, a case first exposed in August this year by InDaily.
“Those matters are currently being considered between SAPOL and the Department and investigations are taking place,” Harrison said.
Today’s revelation of police involvement follows last week’s statement to InDaily by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Adam Kimber, that he is also seeking further information on the case of former Families SA social worker Melissa Green.
The case had passed by unnoticed, until InDaily checked the basis on which the Magistrates and Supreme courts had come to the conclusion that Green’s criminal history was known to her employer and that continued employment at Families SA was part of her rehabilitation.
After the revelations, Green’s employment was terminated by Harrison in early October.
“Subsequent to that (the case being raised in the media) there was an internal adjudication process undertaken with information provided to myself, and I took the decision to terminate that person’s employment at the same time.”
It came less than three months after a Supreme Court decision to suspend her 15 month jail sentence, citing the rehabilitation benefits of her continued employment at Families SA, part of the Department of Education and Child Development.
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The DPP’s involvement follows the actions of the Education Department’s internal investigation unit to inquire into the actions of two work colleagues who provided references to the court during Green’s trial and subsequent appeal on sentence.
The two work colleagues remain employed by the department.
It’s these employees and Green who are now the subject of the SAPOL investigation.
Tony Harrison told parliament’s budget and finance committee that the Department’s investigation was considering information that had been anonymously forwarded to them regarding the case.
Information about the case has also been passed to InDaily and several MPs.
Also appearing before the parliamentary committee today was David Waterford, deputy chief executive, child safety, in the Education Department.
He told the committee, the Green matter had been the subject of rumours.
He said his understanding was that Green had informed some of her work colleagues but had not informed her supervisor about her legal trouble.
“At the time of her appointment both on a contract position and ongoing the human resources area were not aware of that, and it was only subsequently that some enquiries started to be made on the basis of rumours that were circulating in the workplace.”
Earlier, when asked why the department wasn’t aware of Green’s previous disciplinary record within the public service, Harrison said they had no way of checking because there was no cross-government record kept of such matters.
Green had been arrested in December 2009 after police investigated the finances of her private sector employer after concerns raised by a co-worker.
She pleaded guilty on 5 November 2010 to 16 counts of theft relating to the embezzlement of $118,978 from her employer between February 2006 and December 2009.
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In mid-2012, while still on remand for the 16 charges and having pleaded guilty, Green won a position in Families SA (part of the Education Department) as a financial counsellor in the financial counselling and support program.
When her case came up for sentencing in January 2013, the Magistrate sentenced her to 15 months’ jail – a decision Green appealed on the basis the sentence should be suspended.
On 24 July this year the appeal judge suspended the sentence.
In his judgment Judge Nicholson said the magistrate should have placed more weight on the likelihood that Green would lose her job if she was jailed.
He noted that in the event of a suspended sentence, she would be able to keep her job.
“It would seem that, given her history (which is known to her employer) the appellant has been extremely fortunate in being able to secure this particular career path with Families SA and the educational opportunities that are now available to her that will serve to promote that career path.
“As such, the present case is one where an immediate term of imprisonment is likely to cause irreparable harm to the quite exceptional level of rehabilitation already achieved. There may be no recovery for the appellant and her family from that harm.”
The court’s conclusion that Green’s history was “known to her employer” was based on a series of affidavits, written statements and court evidence that detailed how departmental officers, including human resources staff, were aware of the Green’s offending.
The court file also documented how several staff members from a Families SA field office supported Green through her court appearances.
When InDaily queried the Education Minister Jennifer Rankine in August on why her department had supported Green, Rankine said: “There is no record of her (Green) informing the department about charges laid against her, as is required”.
That statement, and the subsequent termination of Green’s employment, contradicted the assumption of the court that Green would keep her job.
Harrison went a step further in August when he responded to InDaily’s revelations.
“I would very much question the appropriateness of the person maintaining their job in a government department, or in any department for that matter, if they’ve been convicted on 15 or 16 counts of dishonesty, embezzlement,” he said.
Green’s employment with the department was subsequently terminated.
The Education Department and the minister’s office have maintained a steely silence on just who knew what and when in the case of Melissa Green.
The court file contains two affidavits, three written statements and evidence detailing a succession of occasions where Green informed her superiors and the human resources section of the department about the proceedings against her.
The documents, read in full by InDaily with the permission of the court, detail meetings, conversations, references, assurances and staffing decisions – all based on full disclosure by Green of the dishonesty charges and conviction.
– With additional reporting by Liam Mannix
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