photo credit: parhessiastesA former building inspector at a disgraced Melbourne council faces possible criminal charges over a dodgy property deal with a Buddhist monk.

Peter Anastasi is accused of abusing his power at Brimbank council to buy a house and forcing the seller to undertake repairs.

An ombudsman’s report, tabled in the Victorian parliament on Wednesday, found Mr Anastasi bought an Ardeer house from a Buddhist community group that was subject to a building order.

He then allegedly cancelled the order and destroyed council records of the property.

Ombudsman George Brouwer has recommended the matter be investigated by police, in the latest corruption scandal to rock the western suburbs council.

In May, an explosive ombudsman’s report exposed a culture of bullying and misconduct at the Labor-dominated council.

The report implicated Labor state government MPs in inappropriately meddling in the council’s affairs, including Planning Minister Justin Madden, whose electorate officer was named and shamed.

In the latest report, the ombudsman found Mr Anastasi, who has since quit, abused his position to buy a house he was investigating over an illegal pergola and verandah.

According to the monk who sold the house, Mr Anastasi had agreed to the sale without any compliance works being undertaken.

On August 12, when the house settled, Mr Anastasi allegedly updated the council’s database to make the property compliant with the building order.

Mr Anastasi later sought to have the pergola and verandah demolished and made inquiries about subdividing the land.

He denies destroying a hard copy council file on the property, which could not be retrieved.

“Notwithstanding Mr Anastasi’s claim that he did not ‘rip off’ the venerable monk, Mr Anastasi used information and influence arising from his position as a council officer to purchase a property to his own advantage,” the report said.

Mr Anastasi also used his work email to threaten the monk with legal action if damage he alleged was done to the property was not repaired.

Brimbank chief executive Nick Foa said the council was implementing the ombudsman’s recommendations, and the case had already been referred to police.

“As soon as we became aware of the allegations against this former employee we acted immediately and referred the matter to the Ombudsman for further investigation.”

The opposition said there were systematic issues at Brimbank and called for a full audit of planning decisions.

But Premier John Brumby said the report must be considered in perspective.

“It’s about a single issue, with a single inspector and I don’t think you can draw further conclusions from it,” he said.

AAP