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Ex-Qld MP charged with fraud

AAP

AAP

Disgraced former Queensland MP Scott Driscoll has been charged with 16 fraud-related offences.

The Crime and Corruption Commission announced on Tuesday it had charged Driscoll, 39, with the counts that include soliciting secret commissions, fraud and fraudulent falsification of records.

Driscoll, the former Member for Redcliffe, resigned from the Queensland parliament in disgrace in November last year after the ethics committee found him guilty of misleading the house about his financial interests and his role in the Queensland Retail Traders and Shopkeepers Association.

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“The CCC will allege that between August 2011 and May 2013 the man committed fraud offences worth $725,000 and solicited at least $400,000 in secret commissions from two entities,” the CCC said in a statement.

“The CCC will not allege that the man ever received the secret commissions.”

Driscoll will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on October 23.

The charges come as the state’s former watchdog, the Crime and Misconduct Commission, and Queensland police launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct and fraud in April 2013.

In January this year, the CMC finalised its investigation and referred a brief of evidence to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The CCC decided to proceed with criminal charges after hearing back from prosecutors on October 1.

Driscoll’s wife, Emma Driscoll, is also going through the courts after being charged with perjury and dishonesty charges for her role in the saga.

Premier Campbell Newman declined to comment on the charges against the former government MP.

“All I can say is that the matter’s now before the courts and I’m not going to comment further,” he told reporters.

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