OG Australian Idol contestant Paulini Curuenavuli has copped to bribing a government official in an attempt to get her hands on a driver’s license.
The Fijian-born singer could be trading in her iconic gold dress for an orange jumpsuit after pleading guilty to the charge of “corruptly giving benefit from an agent” in Mount Druitt Local Court today.
The offence reportedly carries a maximum seven-year jail penalty.
As SMH reports, it was revealed in court that Shannon Noll’s Idol costar had clocked up 11 separate driving charges since she got her L-Plates back in 2002.
Then, after having her license suspended in March last year, Paulini texted an RMS employee named Fale Vaifale and cooked up a scheme to pay the staffer $850 in exchange for an unrestricted driver’s licence.
She’s been ordered to complete a traffic-management course and drive the required 120 hours to complete the requirements of her L’s before her next court date on December 15th, which is when her sentence is due to be handed down.
Her lawyer reportedly told the court that Paulini would start ticking up her required hours “right away”.
Paulini is currently playing the lead role of Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard musical up in Brisbane, which finishes its run in November.
Catch her full driving rap, courtesy of Fairfax, below.
Paulini Curuenavuli’s driving record:
Nov 2002 – issued a learner’s drivers licence
Apr 2003 – caught speeding, fined $123
Dec 2004 – caught speeding, cops $208 fine
Aug 2007 – fined $384 for driving on an expired licence
Dec 2009 – fined $647 for driving while unaccompanied on her learner’s licence and $197 for driving without displaying her learner plates
Dec 2011 – fined $206 for driving without having her learner plates displayed and had her licence suspended for a year
June 2013 – faces Liverpool Local Court for driving as a learner without an accompanied driver and fined $300
Feb 2014 – faces Bankstown Local Court after caught driving with a cancelled licence and fined $800
Mar 2016 – licence suspended after failing to pay a fine
June 2016 – caught driving unaccompanied and without displaying L-plates and fined $815 and $248 respectively
July 2016 – issued a fake unrestricted licence
June 2017 – fined $189 for speeding in a school zone
June 2017 – issued a court attendance notice to appear at Mt Druitt court accused of paying an RMS worker $850 in exchange for an unrestricted licence
Sept 2017 – Pleads guilty to bribery charges
Dec 2017 – to be sentenced.
