Vic shire chief forced to stand down

The chief executive of a regional Victorian shire council has been stood down after being charged with 41 fraud and conflict-of-interest offences.

Central Goldfields Shire Council chief executive Mark Johnston was charged under the Local Government Act with two counts of conflict-of-interest, 34 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception and five counts of false accounting.

The executive, whose alleged offences include misuse of a corporate credit card, has been stood down indefinitely and an acting chief executive is currently in place.