Corrupt council CEO who was jailed for accepting cash-stuffed envelopes says life in prison is worse than DEATH in a shocking interview while behind bars
- Former council CEO jailed for accepting cash and other corrupt payments
- Carl Wulff recorded an interview while awaiting sentencing for the corruption
- The 20 minute video was released by the Qld Crime and Corruption Commission
- He compared prison life as worse than being diagnosed with a terminal illness
A disgraced former council CEO who was jailed for corruption says life in prison is worse than seeing family members die in a rare jail-house interview.
Former Ipswich City Council CEO Carl Wulff recorded a frank interview while awaiting sentencing for accepting cash-stuffed envelopes, gifts and other corrupt payments in the course of his job.
The sensational 20 minute video was released by Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) on Monday, where he compared prison life to being diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Wulff warns others to stay away from crime and says being charged with corruption and losing his freedom is worse than divorce and even a death in the family.
‘If you’ve been through a divorce, that’s very stressful. If you’ve been through a death in the family it’s very stressful,’ he says in the video.
Former Ipswich City Council CEO Carl Wulff (pictured in 2018) recorded a frank interview while awaiting sentencing for accepting cash-stuffed envelopes, gifts and other corrupt payments in the course of his job
‘But if you want to rate those on a scale of one-to-10, then this exercise with the corruption charges is probably a 12 and a death in the family or divorce is about five.’
The video was recorded in February after Wulff admitted working with his wife Sharon Oxenbridge, businessman Wayne Myers and contractor Claude Walker on a get-rich kickback scheme.
It was filmed after Wulff approached the CCC, seeking to share a cautionary message about the effects of being charged and convicted of official corruption.
The watchdog released the video on Monday to mark International Anti-Corruption Day.
Wulff says the only thing he can imagine being worse than his legal woes would be being diagnosed with a terminal illness.
He says his crimes cost him everything: his house, his money, his reputation, the respect of friends and family, as well as his freedom.
‘It’s in times like this you find out who your real friends are and I can tell you that there aren’t many,’ he says.
‘My family has always been very supportive … even though they say they still have respect for me … I think I’m sure that there is a significant amount of disappointment and disbelief from them that this has all happened.’
He says life behind bars is nothing but day after day of high-level anxiety and uncertainty.
Wulff warns others to stay away from crime and says being charged with corruption and losing his freedom is worse than divorce and even a death in the family
‘Nothing in life can prepare you for being in prison, unless you’ve been in prison.’
Wulff was jailed in February for working with his wife to pocket $241,000 in bribes from council contractors, including a free deck.
Through his and Oxenbridge’s bogus consultancy company Bojangles Pty Ltd, the couple accepted payments to treat Myers and Walker favourably regarding council contracts.
Wulff pleaded guilty to two counts of official corruption and one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice after lying to authorities and encouraging his co-offenders to do the same.
He was handed a four-and-a-half-year jail sentence, suspended after 20 months and earlier this year lost an appeal against the severity of that sentence. His three co-offenders also lost their appeals.