Criminal prosecution commenced against Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme participant

Publisher
Clean Energy Regulator
Date published
June 2024

Relevant impacts: Government outcomes impact, Industry impact, Environmental Impact, Financial Impact.

The Clean Energy Regulator says nine charges have been laid against a Western Australian man, for providing false or misleading information to access renewable energy certificates through the federal rooftop solar rebate. These charges follow a lengthy investigation that involved the Federal Police and included the execution of a criminal search warrant in 2021.

The CER has alleged that from 23 May 2018 to 12 February 2021, the man knowingly and deliberately provided false information which was subsequently relied upon to create small-scale technology certificates (STCs). STCs are issued under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, as part of the federal government’s system for subsidisation of rooftop solar system installations.

The regulator has been keeping a close eye on compliance with the SRES, since an integrity review led to a major tightening of the rules around the retail and installation of rooftop solar. One of the key rule changes requires CEC accredited installers to be at the site of a rooftop solar job during setup, installation and commissioning – and to provide evidence of compliance. The rule aims to ensure that the person ultimately responsible for the safety and quality of the installation is on site when needed.

Access the source

Related fraudster personas

The Fabricator

The Fabricator invents or produces something that is false to dishonestly gain personal benefits.

The Concealer

The Concealer hides their actions from being seen or known about to dishonestly gain personal benefits.

The Deceiver

The Deceiver makes others believe something that is not true to dishonestly gain personal benefits.

Related countermeasures

Collect accurate and relevant data

Whole-of-Government policies require us to have a high level of confidence in data when providing government services and payments. Create policies, rules, processes and systems to collect accurate and relevant data to help: • process claims • make decisions • check and verify data • analyse data to detect fraud • investigate potential fraud • define new indicators of fraud.

Prevent duplicates

Have processes in place to prevent, identify and correct duplicate records, identities, requests or claims.

Parameters and limits

Apply limits on requests, claims or processes, such as maximum claim amounts or time periods. Enforce these limits using IT system controls.

Verify information

Verify any requests or claim information you receive with an independent and credible source.

Quality assurance checks

Conduct quality assurance activities to confirm that processes are being followed correctly and to a high standard and/or that material or goods are what they are claimed to be. Quality assurance checks not only improve processing standards, they can also detect potentially fraudulent activity and are a significant deterrent to fraud.

Reconcile records

Reconcile records to make sure that 2 sets of records (usually the balances of 2 accounts) match. Reconciling records and accounts can detect if something is different from what is standard, normal, or expected, which may indicate fraud.

Audits or reviews

Internal or external audits or reviews evaluate the process, purpose and outcome of activities. Clients, public officials or contractors can take advantage of weaknesses in government programs and systems to commit fraud, act corruptly, and avoid exposure.

Investigate fraud

 Investigate fraud in line with the Australian Government Investigation Standards (AGIS).

Submit a case study

We'd like to hear from you if you have a case study to share.

Submit your case study

Was this page helpful?