Nearly two years after Victoria’s anti-corruption commission handed down an explosive report on Casey Council, no charges have been laid and the report has temporarily disappeared from the commission’s website.
The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) released its Operation Sandon report in July 2023 after a five-year investigation of property developers, Casey councillors and state MPs.
The report was damning of several key players – with two councillors accused of accepting more than $1.15 million in payments and in-kind support for promoting a developer and his clients’ interests on council.
Under state law, IBAC is able to refer alleged criminality to the Office of Public Prosecutions, which would decide whether to pursue charges.
“There’s a process for doing that. It hasn’t been done yet,” IBAC acting commissioner Stephen Farrow said in July 2023.
“The advice I have is that will be happening very quickly.”
This week, a IBAC spokesperson said it is “continuing to consult with the Office of Public Prosecutions in respect of what charges (if any) should be filed as a result of Operation Sandon”.
“This process remains ongoing.”
The IBAC spokesperson said: “Through an abundance of caution, reports are temporarily removed from the IBAC website while this process occurs.”
The removal of the Operation Sandon report from the IBAC website was noted by Facebook page Casey Transparency Advocate last week.
Casey mayor Stefan Koomen said he understood the process “takes time” but Casey’s community needed “closure”.
“It’s a police matter and it’s ongoing. We’re hopeful there’s an outcome for residents and that there’s some closure. We want to move on.”
Casey Residents and Ratepayers Association vice-president Anthony Tassone agreed that residents deserved closure.
“Residents paid for poor planning decisions, the appointment of administrators and continue to pay for municipal monitors to oversee the newly elected councillors.
“It’s time for IBAC and the Office of Public prosecutions to get on with it and finalise this matter and bring justice against those who did the wrong thing by residents in a position of power.”
During Operation Sandon, Casey councillors were sacked en masse in 2020 – plunging the council under the rule of administrators for nearly five years.
Former mayor Amanda Stapledon took her own life in 2022 after receiving a draft of IBAC’s findings.
It was later confirmed by IBAC that she was not at risk of prosecution. She was not named in the report’s ‘adverse findings’ section.
A State Coroner examining her death recommended that IBAC moves to alleviate witness’s uncertainty about being prosecuted as early as possible during investigations.
Among the IBAC Operation Sandon report’s 34 recommendations was to take land planning decisions out of the hands of councillors.
Starting in 2018, the complex investigation spanned 40 days of public hearings as well as seven private examinations.
