Dario Pacifici: Murdoch Uni staff jailed for 2.5 years after funnelling $1m to company set up by friend, wife

A Murdoch University facilities manager will spend the next 2.5 years behind bars after he funnelled more than $1 million worth of work to a maintenance company set up by his wife and school friend. Dario Norman Pacifici was sacked in 2022 after the university was tipped off to his undeclared conflicts of interest with the directors of building maintenance contractor, BM OnDemand. A subsequent Corruption and Crime Commission investigation uncovered the 50-year-old — who was working as the university’s facilities, maintenance and infrastructure manager — had engaged BM OnDemand for maintenance work while concealing the fact his wife, Joshna Shrestha, and high school friend, Nathan Hodder, were the company’s directors. He did not declare a conflict of interest. The CCC — which formed an opinion that his actions amounted to serious misconduct — found Pacifici had personally approved many of the 946 invoices sent to the university by BM OnDemand over the course of a year. As a result, BM OnDemand earned $1,067,199.80 in contracted work as a result of its engagement with the university. Of the $1.67m, Pacifici and Ms Shrestha pocketed nearly $73,000. The father-of two pleaded guilty in April to one count of a public officer acting corruptly in performance or discharge of functions. In the District Court on Thursday, he was sentenced on Thursday to 2.5 years imprisonment. He will be eligible for parole in 18 months. In handing down her sentence, Judge Charlotte Wallace said Pacifici — who broke down in tears in court — was motivated by “pure greed” and said the offending was “anything but a momentary lapse in judgement”. “You engaged (BM OnDemand) for one reason and one reason only — to gain financial benefit for yourself and your (wife) and Mr Hodder,” she said. “This was intentional misconduct. . . your motivation was not to ensure the most reliable contractor was awarded works. “You knew that what you were doing constitutes as misconduct, in fact, you enacted several steps to conceal what you were doing.” Judge Wallace described Pacifici’s behaviour as “deliberately dishonest and deceptive”, adding it was a “gross and serious breach of trust” given his seniority at the university. “Your actions have undermined trust, not only trust in the institution, but to all of those employed by (an institution) in public officer roles,” she said. “The company went from not existing, to suddenly becoming a very lucrative company.” Defence lawyer Max Crispe acknowledged his client had acted corruptly, but said the work by taken out by BM OnDemand was legitimate. “None of the invoices were false or contrived,” he said. “The work was legitimate work, there were no complaints or suggestions of being over-charged. “He has seen an opportunity. . . then (taken) advantage of it.” He said his client had no prior criminal record and has a strong prospect of rehabilitation. “This is something he has to live with,” he said. But Judge Wallace said there was a strong risk of recidivism, and that Pacifici’s behaviour was reflection of his character. “The moral fibre that enables (someone) to offend in this matter for a considerable amount of time is a concern about the type of person they are,” she said. “People that can act in fraudulent or corrupt or dishonest ways, that says something about the nature of who they are.” BM OnDemand is no longer a contractor at Murdoch University.