Former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission head Geoff Clark was found guilty on more than two dozen charges this week.

The charges, primarily connected to roughly $1million in fraud, related to offences committed across more than two decades.

The ABC reports that police alleged Clark defrauded his Indigenous community at Framlingham, near Warrnambool, and committed perjury while trying to hide his assets in order to claim bankruptcy in the 2000s.

A suppression order placed on the matter in August 2023 saw no media coverage of five consecutive jury trials of Mr Clark and his son Jeremy Clark in Melbourne County Court.

The prosecution discontinued the fifth of those trials on Wednesday, putting an end to the suppression order – which was in place to prevent the prejudicing of juries in the sequence of trials.

The first trial, which began on September 23 last year, related to Geoff Clark using approximately $420,000 from Framlingham Aboriginal Trust offshoots Kirrae Wurrung Community Inc and the Maar Land Council to pay his legal fees in the 2000s.

The ABC reports that during that time, a County Court of Victoria civil jury found Mr Clark senior led two gang rapes in 1971 and was ordered to pay compensation and to cover legal fees for the victim-survivor. Mr Clark senior also faced court over his role in a brawl at Warrnambool's Criterion Hotel on May 1, 2002, and took the federal government to court claiming he was unfairly dismissed from his role as the head of ATSIC, which is now defunct.

On December 1 last year, a jury found Geoff Clark guilty of 19 charges related to using trust money to pay for his legal fees, including 15 counts of theft, three counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception, and a single count of perjury. He was acquitted on nine theft charges.

Charges against his wife Trudy Clark were withdrawn.

The ABC reports that the second of the five trials related to Geoff Clark's son Jeremy Clark and his role in shifting money to his father to pay for his legal fees. He was found guilty by a jury in March of six counts of theft and one count of false accounting, all relating to just over a quarter of a million dollars. The younger Mr Clark was found not guilty of 12 counts of theft.

In the third trial, which ended on April 30, a jury found Geoff Clark guilty of theft and of handling the proceeds of crime related to rent on a trust-owned property and eel fishing licence royalties. He was found not guilty on two other counts of theft.

In the fourth case, Geoff Clark was found guilty of perjury, obtaining financial advantage by deception, theft, and giving false testimony. The jury found that he paid an elderly member of the Framlingham Aboriginal community, Robert Clarke, just $5,000 for 1,000 shares in the local Indigenous trust, despite the shares being valued at $52,000The court found that Geoff Clark transferred 1,900 trust shares, which amount to voting rights within the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust, to one of his sons illegally so they could not become tangled up in his bankruptcy proceedings.

The ABC reports that the court also found Clark senior moved $400,000 from trust accounts prior to being removed as head of the trust, funnelling the money into the Kirrae Wurrong Community Inc, of which he retained control. He also had the trust pay the municipal rates on four properties he denied owning, claiming they belonged to the trust to avoid having them absorbed in his bankruptcy proceedings.

The fifth trial was discontinued on Wednesday, September 4, after Jeremy Clark agreed to plead guilty on Monday to a single count of acting with the intent of dishonestly obtaining a gain from the Commonwealth in relation to the misuse of $10,000 of a federal government grant. A single count of possessing the proceeds of crime against Geoff Clark was withdrawn due to insufficient evidence.

The younger Mr Clark told National Indigenous Times that his "first priority has always been improving the lives and futures of my community, as well as of Indigenous Australians more broadly" and he condemns "any actions taken by others that have compromised this".

"With respect to any allegation of wrongdoing at the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust, I maintain my innocence and unequivocally deny those allegations," he said.

"It is noteworthy that it has never been alleged that I personally benefited from any of these historical matters. I have accepted responsibility in relation to one charge from more than 15 years ago. I did not personally benefit from this, but I acknowledge that I made an error of judgement and unreservedly apologise.

"I have never conspired to commit any crimes for my father's or anyone's benefit."

Geoff and Jeremy Clark have been released on bail and will attend a further hearing on September 11 ahead of sentencing.