A former CSIRO executive will spend the next year behind bars after swindling the government agency of more than $322,000 while in charge of its fraud control.
Chief Justice Lucy McCallum described Mark Stuart Wallis, 47, as "the author of significant fraud" as she sentenced him on Friday to two years in jail.
The ACT Supreme Court judge ordered Wallis to serve half the term at Canberra's jail before being released on a 12-month good behaviour order.
Wallis sat shaking as prison guards entered the courtroom midway through his sentencing, during which Chief Justice McCallum described his "fall from grace".
A school bus driver in recent times, Wallis was once a corporate high-flyer who held the role of business and infrastructure services director at the CSIRO.
He was tasked with managing the scientific research agency's fleet, property portfolio, travel services, procurement and, ironically, security and fraud control.
Wallis took advantage of the trust placed in him to defraud the Commonwealth agency in ways Chief Justice McCallum described as requiring "considerable planning and a level of executive function".
Over the course of three years from June 2014, he racked up nearly $72,000 worth of personal purchases on his corporate credit card.
Chief Justice McCallum said these "moved from the banal to the luxurious", and included everything from fuel, clothing and tools to a washing machine and a jet ski.
In 2016, Wallis also dishonestly caused the CSIRO to spend more than $5000 on a gym membership and personal training services for his wife.
The offence described by Chief Justice McCallum as "by far the most serious" occurred not long before this, when Wallis used more than $245,000 of government funds to buy himself a Lexus station wagon and a Toyota Hilux utility.
He did this by doctoring an invoice and having a CSIRO subordinate process it, disguising the charges as fees for the termination of 10 fleet vehicle leases.
"The objective seriousness of the offending can only be described as high," Chief Justice McCallum said.
Wallis was on sick leave and about to be made redundant by the CSIRO when his crimes were discovered in mid-2017.
When he was confronted about the credit card transactions, he provided a statutory declaration saying they appeared to be consistent with work expenses and he was "comfortable" with them.
He quickly changed his tune, however, accepting some of them clearly were not appropriate and offering to pay the CSIRO back.
Police subsequently raided the Griffith home Wallis occupied at the time, seizing fraudulently obtained items that included the two cars and the jet ski.
The CSIRO sacked Wallis the day before he was to receive his severance package, and he later sold his house so he could reimburse the agency in full.
He pleaded guilty in April to a charge of using a forged document to obtain a gain, and two counts of dishonestly causing a loss to a Commonwealth entity.
Chief Justice McCallum referred during sentencing on Friday to a victim impact statement prepared by CSIRO chief finance officer Thomas Munyard, who said at least 31 staff had been "impacted for a significant period" as the agency assisted police and investigated the depth of Wallis' misdeeds.
She noted this had diverted money and resources away from the agency's core business of scientific research, to the detriment of the community.
Wallis had been due to learn his fate on May 9, but his sentencing was delayed by a COVID-19 outbreak at the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
Reports of the outbreak prompted Chief Justice McCallum to seek a report from ACT Corrective Services boss Ray Johnson about measures in place to mitigate against the risk to people like Wallis, who has a suppressed immune system.
The report left her satisfied prison authorities were taking all reasonable steps to deal with the pandemic, and she found time behind bars was warranted for Wallis.
The judge did accept jail would be an "oppressive" place for Wallis given his immunocompromised state and his various mental health issues.
These were her reasons for "allowing some leniency" and imposing a jail term she acknowledged some would perceive as being "on the lenient end of the scale".
Wallis, who was supported in court by his brother, will be released next June.
Acting Superintendent Tessa Giumelli, of the Australian Federal Police, said the misuse of taxpayer funds by any public official represented a serious breach of trust.
"Defrauding the Commonwealth prevents public funds from being used to support the wider Australian community," she said after Wallis was sentenced.
