An Indigenous leader who rubbed shoulders with Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama stole more than $920,000 from Aboriginal organisations to pay his personal legal fees and house expenses.
juries convicted Geoff Clark on 25 charges of theft, obtaining financial advantage by deception, perjury and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Clark, the former national chairman of the disbanded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, used $404,344 to pay legal fees as he faced criminal and civil proceedings in the early 2000s. He stole about $47,000 from the descendants of the late Robert Clark by falsely representing the value of 1000 Framlingham Aboriginal Trust shares.
His barrister Simon Kenny said Clark conceded he had breached the trust of his local community, but added that the money did not go towards funding a lavish lifestyle. "He has effectively devoted his entire life to advancing the interest of Aboriginal people," Kenny told the court.
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