The NSW corruption watchdog has recommended 11 people be prosecuted in the fallout from the Wollongong City Council scandal it described as "without precedent".
The Independent Commission Against Corruption has flagged a possible 139 criminal charges against the 11 individuals - including councillors, developers and public servants.
In one of the darkest episodes in Wollongong's history, 10 people, including former senior council staff Rod Oxley, Joe Scimone and Beth Morgan and developers Frank Vellar and Glen Tabak, have had corrupt conduct findings made against them.
ICAC Commissioner Jerrold Cripps, QC, said it was not uncommon to find cases where multiple layers of management in an organisation failed to detect corrupt conduct or mismanage known corruption risks.
"But to establish actual corrupt conduct within five levels of a NSW public sector organisation, as has occurred with Wollongong City Council, is without precedent," he said in the third part of his report released yesterday.
Former senior planner Beth Morgan emerged as the central figure in the scandal having engineered approval for a number of developments while carrying on sexual relationships with the applicants.
She now faces the prospect of jail time after the commission recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions consider charging her with 27 offences including misconduct in public office, providing favourable assistance to the developers and corruptly receiving benefits.
The allegations centre on her adulterous relationships with Frank Vellar and Glen Tabak.
Ms Morgan received about $5500 in cash payments as well as gifts while assessing two of Mr Tabak's proposals. Mr Tabak could face a number of criminal charges including corruptly giving a benefit "in relation to each of the cash payments he gave to Ms Morgan".
Ms Morgan's other lover, Frank Vellar, could also face charges after it was found the pair conspired to engineer approval of Mr Vellar's $100 million Quattro development.
"Between mid-2004 and late 2006 Ms Morgan deliberately abused her position and exploited opportunities provided by it for the personal benefit of Mr Vellar and herself and he actively encouraged and assisted her to do so by requesting that she be appointed to assess his DAs, soliciting improper favours from her and providing her with inducements and rewards," the report said.
Former council general manager Rod Oxley was criticised for his close relationship with Mr Vellar.
Between 2000 and 2006 the report states Mr Oxley had 34 meetings with Mr Vellar, at least 11 of which involved lunches or coffees at restaurants or cafes.
It also found Mr Oxley failed to act on a suspicion that Mr Vellar and Ms Morgan were engaged in an affair, potentially blinkered by his "pro-development philosophy".
While the report does not recommend criminal charges against Mr Oxley it is scathing in its assessment of his behaviour which it says "increased the likelihood of corrupt conduct".
The council's former head of development and assessment John Gilbert was also found to have engaged in corrupt conduct while assessing Mr Vellar's proposals.
Former sustainability manager and Labor Party kingpin Joe Scimone could face a criminal charge after he accepted a $10,000 watch from Mr Tabak while also deciding how much the developer should pay in developer contributions.
The commission found former Wollongong councillors Kiril Jonovski, Zeki Esen and Frank Gigliotti attempted to solicit a $20,000 political donation from Mr Vellar during a meeting at the Flame Tree Cafe in October 2006.
The three could now face criminal proceedings.
Former councillor Val Zanotto could also face charges after the commission found he leaked emails to Mr Vellar concerning his North Beach Bathers' Pavilion proposal.
Convicted conman Ray Younan and Gerald Carroll could each face four charges after the report found they had impersonated ICAC officers and solicited bribes on the promise that they would destroy evidence against them.
Mr Younan remains in Lebanon, outside ICAC's reach, where he claims he is too ill to return to face the allegations.
Thirteen pages of coverage inside Thursday's Mercury
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