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Subscriber only AN appeal has been filed over the court decision to set aside fraud convictions against former Ipswich mayor Andrew Antoniolli late last year. Mr Antoniolli, who was the city s mayor for less than a year between 2017 and 2018, was found guilty of 13 fraud offences in June 2019. He was later sentenced to six months in jail, wholly suspended, but his legal team lodged an appeal. It was alleged Antoniolli had fraudulently used more than $10,000 of Ipswich City Council s community donation funds to buy charity items at auction. Mr Antoniolli admitted buying the items while he was a councillor and mayor but pleaded not guilty on the grounds it was accepted practice within the council to use the fund to buy items at auctions.
 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.
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FORMER Ipswich mayor Andrew Antoniolli said âjustice has ultimately been servedâ after his convictions for fraud were set aside last week.
Ipswich District Court Judge Dennis Lynch QC handed down his decision on Friday after upholding the appeal by Mr Antoniolli; acquitting him of all 13 fraud offences.
He had been found guilty by Magistrate Anthony Gett in June last year. Former Ipswich mayor Andrew Antoniolli was aquitted of all 13 fraud offences on Friday.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Mr Antoniolli said the acquittal marked the end of a âtumultuousâ two-and-a-half years for his family.
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.