Seven Arrested Over Alleged Council Fraud in Shepparton as Police Probe Four-Year Scheme
Greater Shepparton City Council referred its own employees to police after internal checks flagged suspicious financial activity stretching back to 2022.
Key points
- Seven men aged 36 to 55 were arrested in Shepparton, Victoria, on 17 June 2026 as part of a fraud investigation.
- Greater Shepparton City Council says it self-reported alleged employee fraud to Victoria Police after its own internal checks raised concerns.
- The alleged fraudulent conduct spans a council and a private business in Shepparton between 2022 and 2026.
- All seven men were interviewed and released, with police confirming the investigation is ongoing.
Seven men are at the centre of a police fraud investigation in regional Victoria, after Greater Shepparton City Council turned its own staff in.
Detectives from the Shepparton Crime Investigation Unit executed several search warrants across Shepparton on 17 June 2026 and arrested the seven men. Four were in their 50s, two in their 40s, and one was 36. All were interviewed and released while inquiries continue.
The alleged fraud ran from 2022 to 2026 and involved the council and a private Shepparton business. Police haven't named the business or specified the amounts believed to be involved.
The council found the problem itself. Greater Shepparton chief executive Fiona Le Gassick confirmed that internal governance and financial checks flagged concerns before any outside tip-off, and the council chose to refer the matter to police. "Council identified concerns through its internal governance and financial processes and took the decision to refer the matter to police, consistent with our obligations and our commitment to accountability and transparency," Le Gassick said in a statement, first reported by ABC News Australia.
Why does this matter to people in Shepparton?
Greater Shepparton City Council manages public funds and ratepayer-funded infrastructure for tens of thousands of residents. Alleged employee fraud at a council means that money may have been misused over several years. The council says it can't comment further because the matter is now a police investigation. Le Gassick's statement added that the council "remains focused on supporting the Greater Shepparton community and on upholding the high standards of conduct our community rightly expects."
Anyone with relevant information can contact Victoria Police or Crime Stoppers.
Should organisations outside Shepparton take note?
Yes. Four years is a long time for fraud to run undetected, and the fact that the council's own systems eventually caught it is precisely the argument for regular financial audits and segregation of duties: keeping different parts of a transaction handled by different staff, so no single person can approve and conceal a fraudulent payment. It's a lesson that applies to local government and private employers alike. We covered a related pattern on 8 July in our story on a four-year fraud scheme built on fake identities, where internal checks played no role at all.
No charges have been formally laid. Police say the investigation is ongoing.
