Former Ravensthorpe Shire CEO Gavin Pollock jailed for two years for using $55,000 in ratepayer funds for sex

The sacked chief executive of a rural WA council, who spent more than $54,000 of ratepayer money to pay for sex, has been jailed for two years. In early 2020, Gavin Charles Pollock concocted a scheme with a prostitute, whose name has been suppressed by WA’s District Court, to “deceive” the Shire of Ravensthorpe. The plan, which allowed the now 44-year-old to “drip feed” himself “reimbursements” for the many hours of overtime he completed in his role as CEO, saw him fraudulently add the sex worker’s business to the council’s list of suppliers, and then submit fake purchase orders for a number of pretend-services. The business’s address, set up to facilitate the payments, was for a brothel. Some of the fake invoices were for “programming services for the CEO”, “executive officer support services”, and “administration support and budget research services”. The subsequent payments, unwittingly made by the Shire to a bank account belonging to the prostitute, were made “without question” thanks to the position of trust Pollock enjoyed. The cash was then left there for him to use for future visits. WA’s District Court on Friday was told seven such payments were made between March 2020 and April 2021 and totalled a massive $54,850. Pollock used the significant sum to pay for sex with the prostitute, who he’d known for numerous years beforehand and who has worked in the industry for 12 years, as well as other courtesans. His lawyer, Kylie Ferridge, said each fraudulent transaction was calculated by Pollock based on the amount of extra hours he’d worked — a requirement of his job due to staff shortages. She argued Pollock had been in a “pressure cooker situation” at the time of the offending, and “was doing everything possible just to keep up”. “He was treading water,” she said, adding that her client had been under extreme stress at the time and had been expected to work up to 20 extra hours a week. Describing his actions as an “aberration of his character”, she also said Pollock was deeply remorseful and “horrified” by his actions in hindsight. “The offending was not motivated by pure greed and lack of disregard for the shire,” Ms Ferridge told Judge Christopher Stevenson. “Mr Pollock worked incredibly hard for the Shire.” State prosecutor Hannah Pike said Pollock’s actions showed a gross breach of trust and had undermined the confidence the public had in local government. Judge Stevenson agreed, describing the way in which the forms Pollock had provided to his colleagues for completion, and actioned “without question” showed his high position within the council. “There was no second-guessing, there were no questions asked,” he said. In sentencing Pollock, who was jailed to two years immediate imprisonment, Judge Stevenson said he could understand why the former CEO would seek to justify his conduct post-offending, but that the significant length of time over which he extracted money from the Shire on a “drip-feed basis” aggravated the situation. “He justifies to himself that I’m working long hours ... therefore I’m entitled to reimburse myself and I’ll just use it to pay for (sexual) services,” he said. It came seven months after Pollock first pleaded guilty to the seven offences — all corruption charges — in Perth Magistrates Court. The charges, which carry a maximum term of up to seven years in prison, were laid after a bombshell report was tabled in Parliament by the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) last September, shortly after Pollock was sacked. The report revealed Pollock had authorised the corrupt payments by producing and printing off fake invoices, as well as purchase orders, using his office computer. It also found that the prostitute, referred to in the report as “Ms E”, had been a “supplier” of the Shire for a number of years before Pollock started his corrupt scheme to pay her using council funds in March 2020. A further two invoices topping $13,500 were in the process of being prepared when the CCC uncovered them, and they were ultimately stopped from being paid. Access to “support services”, “emotional support” and to use Ms E as a “sounding board” were just some of the reasons Pollock claimed in the report to have established the corrupt scheme. Pollock will be eligible for parole in 12 months. He repaid the full amount of money he took from the Shire of Ravensthorpe this year. The prostitute accused of the same corruption offences is due in Perth Magistrates Court on September 13.