John Norman appeared in the Brisbane District Court on Wednesday. Photo: Queensland Law Society

FORMER Toobeah cotton grower John Douglas Norman has been sentenced to nine years and six months imprisonment after pleading guilty to six counts of fraud linked to a Federal Government-funded irrigation program.

Mr Norman was taken into custody on June 26 ahead of the final sentencing hearing held on Wednesday in the Brisbane District Court.

Judge Bernard Porter KC recognised 21 days of pre-sentencing custody.

He also specified that Mr Norman would be eligible to apply for parole in 2028.

In April, Mr Norman pleading guilty to six counts of fraud for “dishonestly inducing the delivery of property valued over $30,000”, committed between 2011 and 2016.

His co-accused, Stephen Alan Evans, had pleaded guilty to four similar fraud charges in April 2021.

These also relate to offences committed between 2011 and 2016 at Toobeah.

Mr Evans received a head sentence of four years and six months, suspended for an operational period of four years and five months, and served nine months in prison.

Case background

The case gained national attention in 2017 when police executed a raid on Norman Farming, the 18,000ha cropping business where Mr Norman was chief executive and Mr Evans served as chief financial officer.

At the time, media reports stated that both men would face fraud charges in 2018, although there is no public record confirming whether those early proceedings reached a conclusion.

The charges stemmed from alleged fraudulent activity linked to the federally funded Healthy HeadWaters program, which aimed to improve water and irrigation efficiency across the Murray-Darling Basin.

While the program was funded by the Federal Government, decisions about how and where to allocate the money were handled by state governments, in this case Queensland.

Norman Farming reportedly received $19.2 million across seven projects under the scheme.

Police alleged the pair altered routine farm-expense invoices to make them appear as if they were tied to work funded through the program.

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