When Gavin Pollock, 44, signed off on a fake invoice for thousands of dollars of executive officer support services it was not for the administration of the Shire of Ravensthorpe but for sexual services for himself, the local government’s chief executive officer.
The now ex-boss of the shire was jailed for two years on Friday for creating purchase orders on seven occasions, worth $54,850 combined, that came out of the local government’s budget and landed in a sex worker’s bank account which he could use for future visits.
Former Ravensthorpe chief executive Gavin Pollock.
The scheme ran for 404 days from March 8, 2020, until April 16, 2021, and involved Pollock creating purchase orders for a range of made-up administrative services varying in payment size from a few thousands dollars to more than $10,000.
Pollock’s co-accused, who has worked in the sex industry for 12 years and whose name was suppressed by the District Court as she continues to face her own charges related to the case, would then invoice the council with unwitting members of the local government paying her.
The sacked chief executive, fired from his job late last year as the Corruption and Crime Commission began to investigate the offending, had fraudulently set up the sex worker’s business through the council’s supplier software to help facilitate the payments.
The business address was for a brothel.
Pollock’s explanation for the offending, as told to the court by his defence lawyer Kylie Ferridge, was because of work stress and learned behaviours from his childhood to not bother other people with problems and keep them to yourself.
“He was spending an exorbitant amount of hours a day working. He would keep a tally [of work] that didn’t necessarily fall under his purview as CEO and they would formulate the hours spent on the invoice,” Ferridge said.
“Nineteen to 20 hours a day was what was expected of him.
'Stressed' shire CEO who used local government cash for paid sex jailed for two years - WAtoday
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