BLINK and you would have missed it.
But very quietly last week, the former Shire of Dowerin Chief Executive Officer Dacre Alcock pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $600,000 of council funds which were diverted into an online betting account.
I don't know about you, but for me it basically boils down to some bloke ripping off the 700 or so people who live in Dowerin to the tune of more than $800 each.
If this had been the CEO of a Perth metropolitan council it would have been front page news.
Perhaps with the plethora of daily news stories highlighting atrocities from sexual abuse through to barbaric terrorist acts, society has become so immune to cases like these nowadays.
In the face of these horrible acts, does society really care anymore about white collar crimes?
We all should care and we shouldn't let these crimes just slip under the radar.
Alcock's crime was a serious breach of trust and abuse of his position against a small Wheatbelt community who deserved better from their leader.
The fact the case was heard in Northam Magistrates Court should not diminish the magnitude of the act or devastation caused to the local people he betrayed.
Alarm bells should have been ringing a long time ago, but for some reason his crimes went undetected for so long and allowed more funds to disappear.
Seven audits failed to detect that Mr Alcock had gambled away more than half a million dollars of ratepayers' funds which illustrates a serious breakdown in the system.
Mr Alcock, pleaded guilty to four separate charges of stealing as a public servant after an investigation by the Corruption and Crime Commission.
The CCC prosecuted Mr Alcock on 665 individual instances of theft, totalling $599, 879.92 from the Shire of Dowerin.
The offences took place over four years between October 17, 2011 and October 26, 2015. Councils cop a spray at the best of times and this investigation shows the need for vigilance at all levels of public service at all times. It is just a shame it took so long to uncover the crime.
Karalee Katsambanis is a journalist with WA Today.
