former senior executive at Woolworths has been charged with taking more than $3.7 million worth of commissions

A former senior executive at Woolworths has been charged with taking more than $3.7 million worth of illegal commissions after awarding contracts worth $37 million 10 years ago.<br />The 57-year-old was arrested at his Castle Hill home at 5.30pm yesterday and charged with nine counts of fraud.<br />A Woolworths spokeswoman said the charges related to the company's MIS division (management information systems) before the executive left the company in 1999.<br />"I think shareholders should take great comfort that an incident of this nature did come to light and charges have now been laid,'' she said. "It actually goes to the rigour of the internal system of checks and balances.''<br />The alleged fraud took place during the tenure of chief executive Reg Clairs, although it is not suggested he was aware of any alleged wrongdoing.<br />The accused executive spent nine years at Woolworths in a senior role before leaving in 1999.<br />His most public project during his time at the company was the 1997 roll out of a new $135 million checkout system.<br />The charge comes as part of the on-going investigation, Strike Force Whittlesford, by detectives who have been reconstructing a global money trail since 1999.<br />The strike force investigation required the assistance of numerous overseas law enforcement agencies, judicial bodies and financial institutions and involved travelling to London, Rome and Paris among others, police said.<br />The NSW Police Annual Report for 2003-04 details how two detectives, Detective Inspector Colin Dyson, now the commander of the Fraud Squad, and Detective Sergeant Philip Vicker, were seconded to the United Kingdom as part of the investigation.<br />The executive was charged with three counts of a director or officer cheating or defrauding

former senior executive at Woolworths has been charged with taking more than $3.7 million worth of commissions

A former senior executive at Woolworths has been charged with taking more than $3.7 million worth of illegal commissions after awarding cont...

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