HSU arrests to continue: fraud squad

4 Oct 2012, 5:33 pm   -   Source: AAP
Mr Williamson stood aside in September last year amid allegations of misuse of union funds investigated by Fair Work Australia and police.

Mr Williamson stood aside in September last year amid allegations of misuse of union funds investigated by Fair Work Australia and police.

Police have slapped former Health Services Union boss Michael Williamson with 20 charges, accusing him of hindering their corruption investigation.

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More arrests are expected in the Health Services Union (HSU) fraud scandal after police laid 20 charges against former boss Michael Williamson.

Detectives have charged the former HSU national president with hindering their investigation into the union by allegedly directing high-ranking union officers, including his son, to destroy documents and computer files.

Williamson, 59, appeared fatigued when he went to Maroubra police station, in Sydney's east, at 7.45am (AEDT) on Thursday.

More than a dozen detectives also raided his home in nearby Meagher Avenue and seized computers and other items.

"There are separate allegations that he approached others and instructed them to delete computer files and computer data from HSU computers," Fraud and Cybercrime Squad commander Colin Dyson told reporters outside Maroubra police station.

"And separate again, instructions given by him to others to destroy documents ... these documents being American Express credit card statements."

Strike Force Carnarvon began 12 months ago to investigate allegations of systemic corruption in the HSU, including alleged misuse of credit cards by Williamson and former HSU national secretary and now federal MP Craig Thomson.

In May, Carnarvon raided the Sydney offices of HSU East Branch and detectives intercepted Williamson in an adjacent car park with a bag of union documents.

He resigned in July in response to a report by barrister Ian Temby, QC, who found more than $20 million of questionable payments were made to HSU suppliers without any form of tendering or contract.

Fifteen other charges against Williamson relate to false statements he allegedly made to intentionally mislead the organisation's members.

"These allegations arise from the alleged fabrication of documents and their production to the Temby-Robertson inquiry," Det Supt Dyson said.

"In fact we have more persons of interest than we had at the start."

Police expect to charge Williamson with further offences by the end of the year.

"In fact, I'm quite confident that he will be charged with charges arising from the broader investigation," Det Supt Dyson said.

He was granted bail and ordered to appear in Waverley Local Court on October 31.

Mr Thomson, who has been suspended from the Labor Party, told AAP that Williamson's arrest didn't come as a surprise.

But he said police had not spoken to him in relation to the hindering of investigation charges and he was not one of the five people of interest.

"Quite clearly that's not me," he said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard would not be drawn on the arrest and charges.

"I don't want to be speaking about a matter which will ultimately be dealt with by the courts," Ms Gillard told reporters in Hobart.

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Ms Gillard was the last person in the country to express full confidence in Mr Thomson.

"The prime minister is still relying on the tainted vote of the Health Services Union representative in the federal parliament," Mr Abbott told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.

Current HSU president Chris Brown welcomed the decision to prosecute Williamson.

"While Michael Williamson has not yet been found guilty ... what this shows is that we're getting towards the end of holding to account those people who have wronged the union," Mr Brown told AAP.

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