A retired senior naval figure is facing a secret military disciplinary process over unspecified allegations involving lucrative defence contracts in Western Australia.
Sources with knowledge of the matter have told The West Australian arrangements are being made to enable former Defence Department Secretary Greg Moriarty, who now serves as Australian ambassador to the United States, to give evidence from Washington.
“This really is a big deal, and a lot of effort is being made to ensure this serious case is handled thoroughly and by the book,” one defence source tells The West Australian, speaking on the condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the matter.
“The accused is receiving comprehensive legal support, including a defence team consisting of up to six people so this process is going to be quite an expensive one,” the serving ADF figure says.
The West Australian understands the accused officer, who will soon be subjected to a court martial on eight separate but unspecified charges, left the Australian Defence Force in the past few years.
A trial period of up to six weeks has been set down for the court martial which is scheduled to begin at a Canberra defence facility in September and be heard before the ADF’s Chief Judge Advocate, Major General Michael Cowen KC.
In late June, a five-day pre-trial hearing for the matter was held at Western Australia’s HMAS Stirling naval base, which saw legal representatives fly to Perth for proceedings that were also overseen by Major General Cowen.
Figures familiar with the allegations claim that due to the seniority of the accused ADF member it was initially difficult to find senior officers to take part in the court martial given who were not conflicted.
Those figures have also told The West Australian the complex case will examine interactions between the former Capability and Sustainment Group inside Defence and several large military companies who completed sustainment at Henderson shipyard.
Earlier this year The West Australian became aware of representatives from defence industry as well as departmental officials being contacted by military investigators ahead of a formal court martial being launched.
The West Australian understands the activity under investigation occurred during the previous Coalition government and before the Albanese government took power in 2022, but it is unclear why the matter is being handled by a military disciplinary process rather than a civilian court.
The Defence Department declined to answer several detailed questions submitted by The West Australian last week, citing obligations under the Privacy Act as the reason for why the name and military rank of the accused had so far been suppressed by the ADF.
Last year, the Australian National Audit Office found defence officials had failed to properly document and investigate bribery allegations made against navy contractor, in a scathing report on the multibillion-dollar commissioning and maintenance of two large warships.
The ANAO revealed that Defence had also determined there was no conflict of interest when a senior official involved in finding a supplier to take on a $700 million maintenance and upkeep contract then took a job offer with the winning bidder in the middle of the process.
A decade ago, a Royal Australian Naval officer was implicated in the massive “Fat Leonard” bribery scandal which involved dozens of military personnel being charged with corruption.
In 2019 former Lieutenant Commander Alexander Bryan Gillett avoided jail after pleading guilty to six instances of helping provide classified shipping information to Singapore businessman Leonard Francis while posted with the U.S. Navy.
