Four years jail for WA Health corruption

A former WA Health Department manager has been jailed for four years for corruption, while his associate has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Wathumullage Wickramasinghe, 57, pleaded guilty to 10 corruption charges in the Perth District Court just a few days into a five-week trial last year, after prosecutors dropped 38 other charges.

He fraudulently obtained kickbacks for work done on building projects, gaining almost $500,000 between 2004 and 2010.

Wickramasinghe gave contracts to engineering consultant Eddy Ardeshir Kalani and his company ESM Engineering, which subcontracted some work back to two businesses run by Wickramasinghe.

Kalani was charged with nine offences.

The men were charged following a Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry in 2011.