The former driver claims he drove Paul Pisasale in the mayoral car to the Luv Asian licensed brothel at Molendinar on the Gold Coast. Credit:Fairfax Media A massage parlour on Stanley Street in East Brisbane that Mr Potts alleges Mr Pisasale visited on four occasions in 2015 has been the subject of complaints by local residents about illegal prostitution since 2013. It was raided by police in December 2015 following covert visits by detectives. A large quantity of cash was seized and 10 staff and clients arrested and charged with illegal prostitution offences. Seven people were later fined in the Brisbane Magistrates Court. Mr Potts alleged Mr Pisasale had made the first of his visits to the Stanley Street premises with Chris Zenonos, a developer who has made more than $1 million by reselling undeveloped former council land he bought in 2014 from a company owned by Ipswich City Council where Mr Pisasale was a director. "We followed Zenonos to get there," Mr Potts said.

Ex-Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale leaves court. Credit:Tammy Law "There were two more visits (by Mr Pisasale on his own) over the next two months. "After the second or third visit Paul mentioned there had been a raid. He said one of the girls there had been doing the wrong thing." Paul Pisasale on the day he resigned as mayor, citing ill health. Credit:Tony Moore Mr Zenonos denied he had visited the parlour with Mr Pisasale.

He added: "What's that got to do with me if I went on my own?" Mr Potts said on a fourth visit, Mr Pisasale had not entered but instead collected a middle-aged Asian woman and taken her to dinner at a nearby restaurant, leaving Ipswich memorabilia for the restaurant staff. Mr Potts said he had taken the woman to be the owner of the parlour. Mr Potts said in late 2015 he had driven the mayor to the Gold Coast so he could play golf with developer Johnson Lin, later joining them for dinner at a restaurant at Southport. Mr Lin's family company Cherish Enterprises owns 250 hectares of land in Springfield in the Ipswich council district where it hopes to build up to 1800 homes, according to Mr Lin. Mr Potts said on Mr Pisasale's instructions he had followed the car Mr Lin was driving, ending up at the Luv Asian licensed brothel at Molendinar.

According to Mr Potts, Mr Lin then drove away without entering the brothel and Mr Pisasale went in alone while Mr Potts waited in the mayoral car. "He said he was going in for a massage," Mr Potts said. Mr Lin told Fairfax Media he had played golf with the mayor on several occasions including on the Gold Coast and regarded him as a personal friend, but did not recall the incident. "It's two years ago," he said. "I'm not the best with memories." Mr Potts also described an incident in which he was offered sexual services at a massage parlour chosen by Mr Pisasale during a stop-off at the Gold Coast.

He said Mr Pisasale had paid for him to have a massage at the HQ Oriental Massage parlour at Tallebudgera as a "reward" for Mr Potts driving the mayor to meet his family for a holiday at Coolangatta. "I had offered to take him to Coolangatta, knowing he'd been drinking," Mr Potts said. Mr Potts said female staff at the parlour had offered him sexual services, which he had refused. "They asked me did I want to remove my underwear and I said 'no'. They asked me did I want a 'happy ending' and I said 'no'," Mr Potts said. "The young woman worked on him (Mr Pisasale) in another room and the older woman worked on me."

Afterwards, Mr Pisasale had "cracked up about me not wanting the 'happy ending'," Mr Potts said. Mr Potts said the mayor often asked to be dropped at a massage parlour after lunching at Brisbane Italian restaurants including Gambaro's in Paddington and Mariosarti in Toowong, but the visits could be at any time "from early morning 'til late at night". He also described other parlours visited by the mayor in Fortitude Valley and Red Hill in Brisbane, and in Toowoomba. "On one trip to Toowoomba for a local government conference he had me driving around looking for massage parlours," Mr Potts said. "I felt like his pimp.

"Between the massages and the golf and the going to lunch with people ... and then complaining I was claiming too many hours." Mr Pisasale did not respond to repeated requests for comment or detailed questions sent for his attention to his lawyer Glen Cranny. Mr Potts said on tendering his resignation to Ipswich City Council in June 2016, he had complained about Mr Pisasale's inappropriate use of the mayoral car including visits to massage parlours. The council declined to confirm whether such complaints had been made. A council spokesman said "various matters regarding former mayor Paul Pisasale's private life" were being investigated by the CCC.

"Given that council is not privy to the detail of the investigation, it is not appropriate for council or its representatives to comment on any matters which may or may not impact those investigations," he said. Mr Potts, 58, was employed on a casual basis and had to claim for hours worked. He has alleged that while many of the trips involving non-official business took place outside normal work hours, the mayor had insisted that he claim only for 32 hours per week. Mr Potts said he had complied for fear of losing his job. He has been unable to find work since leaving the council. Dressed in pyjamas and a dressing gown, Mr Pisasale resigned as mayor on June 6 citing ill health.

It has emerged he was under investigation by the CCC over an incident at Melbourne Airport in which he was found carrying $50,000 in cash. He is currently on bail on three separate charges including one count of extortion.