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A SACKED Ipswich councillor says he backs calls by the head of the Local Government Association of Queensland for an independent inquiry into the state’s corruption watchdog after charges were dropped against dismissed Logan councillors this week.
Fraud charges against eight former Logan councillors were dropped two years after they were first charged and then subsequently dismissed by then-local government minister Stirling Hinchliffe.
The Director of Public Prosecutions decided on Thursday not to continue with the prosecution of the councillors. LGAQ CEO Greg Hallam.
Former Mayor Luke Smith still faces other criminal offences resulting from a Crime and Corruption Commission probe with these matters still before the court.
 Acquitted Ipswich mayor Andrew Antoniolli has broken a two-year silence to reveal how he lost everything and was pushed to the brink of death during a fight to clear his name of fraud. Mr Antoniolli was exonerated in a District Court appeal on Friday, 31 months after he was first charged by the Crime and Corruption Commission in Ipswich. The former mayor, speaking exclusively to
The Courier-Mail, has revealed how the fall from grace almost killed him. It wouldn t be too big of a claim to say I only survived through my faith, he said. I had my family, but if I didn t have my faith - and using that time to concentrate on it - I wouldn t have survived.
Antoniolli, then aged 48, was found guilty of fraud by Magistrate Anthony Gett on June 6, 2019. That followed a defended hearing, in which evidence was presented, alleging Antoniolli had fraudulently used more than $10,000 of Ipswich City Council s community donation funds to buy charity items at auction. During the trial, the court heard Antoniolli would purchase items at events using council funding. Â Â His trial largely centred around a $5000 Trek racing bicycle Antoniolli acquired from Ipswich s Yellow Jersey Bike Shop. He was sentenced in August 2019 by Mr Gett to six months jail, wholly suspended. A conviction was recorded. His legal team then lodged a notice of appeal.