CANBERRA: A Canberra man who stole more than $1 million from a Commonwealth authority set up to help Indigenous people in business allegedly bought an Aston Martin and other lavish items with the money.
Indigenous Business Australia, which helps Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people buy their own homes and businesses, was originally the commercial arm of the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
Nicholas Ian Schofield, 46, was the financial manager in 2013 when the offences occurred, and has pleaded guilty to six charges involving the transfer of several amounts totalling just over $1 million. He is disputing one charge of taking an amount of just over $370,000.
The ACT Magistrates Court heard that at that time of the offences, the organisation was changing its financial systems and Schofield had special access. Prosecutors told the court that access allowed him to transfer large amounts of money into his own account, including several transfers that were more than $300,000.
Schofield’s shopping list included an Aston Martin car, tens of thousands of dollars on travel, dining and jewellery and his wedding at a Canberra hotel.
He also purchased a doll house worth $10,000, paid off a house in Adelaide and sent tens of thousands of dollars to his wife in the Philippines.
Court documents showed the organisation began investigating some suspicious transactions in October last year. At first Schofield was asked to defer his resignation to help with the investigation. But the documents showed that in January, he rang the office admitting to the crime.
