Case studies

Two Commonwealth employees and an associate have been charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth and abuse of public office. Police allege that the trio used inside knowledge obtained in the course of their employment at the Department of Finance to direct IT contracts to ‘preferred suppliers.’ The trio then allegedly used kickbacks to buy and renovate properties. Police have frozen $7.8 million in assets as part of the investigation.

Two women from Port Macquarie were arrested after allegedly making suspicious claims for bushfire and coronavirus welfare assistance.

A Sydney man was arrested over alleged fraudulent claims for Australians affected by the recent bushfires and coronavirus. It is alleged that the man had assumed up to 11 identities and created 53 fictitious identities to submit claims for Commonwealth Government benefits. The value of the alleged fraudulent payments is approximately $70,000.

Four people have been charged by the Australia Federal Police (AFP) for allegedly submitting false claims to gain early access to superannuation savings.

A university employee submitted false invoices via the university’s procurement system to fraudulently obtain 198 EFTPOS gift cards valued over $600,000.

Australian Federal Police arrested a group of 5 people who allegedly stole $1.1 million from those managing the affairs of 70 people with National Disability Insurance Scheme plans. The group allegedly established 3 registered providers under the National Disability Insurance Scheme and provided over-inflated invoices or no service at all. If found guilty of the alleged offences, they face between 12 months and up to 10 years in prison.

A Queensland doctor was found guilty of defrauding Medicare out of more than $360,000.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, fraudsters contacted members of the public pretending to be from the UK Coronavirus Test and Trace service.

A Clean Energy Council accredited installer and licenced electrician falsely claimed to have conducted 8 solar installations. He signed multiple, small-scale technology certificate documents and Certificates of Electrical Compliance relating to these installations under the Small-scale renewable energy scheme.

A Melbourne woman was convicted of fraud after using $600,000 worth of resident’s deposits from an Aged Care facility. The company went into liquidation shortly afterwards leaving 42 residents without a home and debts of $4.5 million. She deceived residents when she told them their deposit money would be held in a trust account and that interest gained from the money would be used to reduce accommodation fees.