Sham property agreements drawn up by lawyers working for a NSW Aboriginal land council worth more than $1 million have landed former senior officials in hot water with the state's anti-corruption commission.
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) found four people devised a scheme involving the purported sale or development of properties owned by the Awabakal Local Aboriginal Land Council (ALALC).
The "corrupt conduct" resulted in a handsome payout of more than $1 million from the sale of three properties, the ICAC said in a report released on Wednesday.
ICAC's investigation dubbed Operation Skyline said former ALALC chair Debbie Dates and former deputy chair Richard Green were complicit in the fraud committed between 2014 and 2016.
The scheme involved former tax assistant commissioner Nicholas Petroulias falsely representing that a company he controlled, Gows Heat, had an option to purchase ALALC properties that it could on-sell to another party.
His associate Despina Bakis prepared false contractual documents between Gows and the land council.
She had an undeclared conflict of interest in that she was the solicitor for the land council while also representing Gows.
Mr Petroulias' conduct included improperly rewriting ALALC board meeting minutes and helping prepare the sham agreements.
Gows' purported option was then sold to a third party, the Sunshine Property Investment Group, for more than $1 million.
While Sunshine had been informed the bulk of the money would go to the ALALC, all of the funds instead went to line the pockets of Mr Petroulias, Mr Green, and Ms Bakis.
Mr Petroulias ultimately received more than $600,000, Mr Green around $245,000 and Ms Bakis nearly $180,000.
Mr Green and Ms Dates, the former ALALC chair, signed the contractual agreements with Sunshine on behalf of the land council despite lacking the authority to do so.
Other board members and staff were unaware of these transactions.
The commission explained that entrenched poor governance and a breakdown of communication made the land council vulnerable to corrupt conduct.
ICAC is seeking the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions on whether charges should be laid.
