A 72-year-old Indigenous leader has been handed a six-year prison sentence for stealing nearly $1 million from four Aboriginal organisations, with some of the funds used to fight allegations of gang rape and assault.
On Nov. 29, the Victorian County Court heard that Geoff Clark, former chairman of the disbanded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and a past representative at the United Nations, embezzled $922,214 from groups including the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust from 2001 to 2015.
Clark spent $404,344 of the stolen money to pay legal fees for criminal and civil proceedings in the early 2000s arising from historic gang rape and assault allegations.
In those cases, Clark was convicted of obstructing police, and a civil jury found he had led two pack rapes of a teenage girl in the 1970s.
Clark also used $56,020 of the stolen funds to pay for personal expenses, including rates, electricity, and water bills.
Three separate juries convicted him on 25 counts including theft, obtaining financial advantage by deception, perjury, and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Members of the Framlingham community in rural Victoria celebrated the decision to hand Clark a sentence of six years and two months, of which he will serve a minimum of three years and nine months.
“I hope other communities out there on the state and national level take notice, because you could do this too,” Joanne McGuiness told reporters outside the court.
“If you’ve got other mob out there that are overpowering you as a grassroot community—stand up. You’ve got a right to be heard.”
In sentencing, Judge Michael O'Connell said Clark, who had presented as a “fearless advocate,” had betrayed his community.
“You stole on multiple occasions ... to strengthen your power and influence in the community,” Judge O'Connell said.
“What you did was aptly described as morally reprehensible.”
Gary Johns, chairman of Close the Gap Research, told The Epoch Times the verdict had “been a long time coming.”
Johns said there would likely have been a lot of people who knew Clark should not have been in a position of authority.
Son Also Sentenced
The defendant’s son Jeremy Clark, 51, was also sentenced on Nov. 29 for stealing from Aboriginal organisations.Jeremy Clark was sentenced to a wholly suspended prison term of two years and two months after he was found guilty of theft and false accounting.
A jury found Jeremy Clark had stolen $231,969 to help with his father’s legal fees, and wrongfully obtained a further $10,780 through a federal government grant.
Jeremy Clark was released on a recognisance release order, with the condition that he maintains good behaviour for two years.
