Former CFMEU boss John Setka has been charged with attempting to threaten or intimidate the union’s government-appointed administrator.
Victorian and federal police arrested Setka at a property in Victoria’s inner west at 6.40am on Wednesday. He was later interviewed and charged.
Former CFMEU Victorian secretary John Setka.Credit: Chris Hopkins
“Investigators will allege the Footscray man sent a number of allegedly threatening, offensive and abusive emails to a CFMEU administrator,” police said.
Detectives seized a mobile phone and iPad from the property.
Setka was charged with seven counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass and offend the union’s government-appointed administrator, Mark Irving, KC. He was bailed and will face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on January 30 next year.
The construction union’s former boss quit in 2024 after facing numerous allegations of misconduct tied to his activities within the CFMEU. He was elected to lead the Victorian branch in 2012.
CFMEU administrator Mark Irving, KC.Credit: Joe Armao
The allegations, revealed in this masthead’s Building Bad investigation last year, prompted the federal government to appoint Irving as an independent administrator to overhaul the union.
Using a carriage service to menace essentially means using any form of electronic communication service, like a phone, in a way that is threatening or intimidating to a person.