Former Ipswich mayor acquitted of fraud convictions

During his June 2019 trial the former mayor told the court he had acted on the advice of two Ipswich chief executive officers that councillors would buy auction items at charity events and record the spending as donations on council records.

The trial heard Mr Antoniolli never believed he had acted dishonestly and had acted within guidelines set by the two chief executives.

On Friday Judge Lynch said the magistrate should not have ignored Mr Antoniolli’s evidence he acted on the advice of the Ipswich City Council chief executive.

“The learned magistrate found [Mr Antoniolli] admitted knowing the donation policy was flawed for lack of transparency and accountability and relied on this as one of the reasons for his conclusion the appellant…