Case studies

A sole trader of a home styling business lodged 32 monthly Business Activity Statements with the Australian Taxation Office to fraudulently obtain $138,076 in Goods & Services Tax refunds. The woman supplied false documents to the Australian Taxation Office to support these statements and claims.

An insurance broker engaged in dishonest conduct by diverting 51 client refunds to personal accounts held in his name, totalling $199,391. The man was found guilty of 7 counts of fraud and sentenced to 2 years and 9 months in prison. He was also ordered to repay $29,951.30.

A financial planner lied to his clients by falsely stating he had invested their funds and that their investments were performing well. However, rather than investing $5.1 million of his client's funds, the financial planner used them as he pleased. The man was found guilty of 8 counts of fraud under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and an additional 4 counts of fraud under the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth). He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A woman has been charged for allegedly helping a friend “hack” into the online account of a 56-year-old man and transferring $239,000 worth of cryptocurrency into her own account. In a first of its kind case in Australia, the woman pleaded guilty to dishonestly causing a financial disadvantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime. The woman was convicted and jailed for a maximum of 2 years and 3 months.

A cleaner contracted by Comcare to support 2 compensation recipients received payments totalling $22,289.57 for 42 invoiced services that were never provided.

A former Biosecurity Officer at the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture (as it was then known) abused his position to coordinate the import of animals into Australia illegally. As part of the man’s employment he was responsible for inspecting cargo and specimens being imported into Australia. He used this position of trust and access to take and then sell the animals online. The man was convicted and sentenced to 3 years in prison.

A group has been charged with allegedly convincing vulnerable people to fraudulently marry non-citizens that were seeking to obtain permanent residency in Australia.

A Melbourne man used a second identity to claim and receive the Newstart Allowance and Disability Support Pension at the same time. The total proven amount defrauded was $243,875.26. The fraud was initially detected from data matching activities between the Australian Taxation Office and Services Australia. The man was sentenced to 4 years in prison.

A medical clinic owner defrauded the Commonwealth of more than $3.3 million by claiming rebates for services not given to over 5,870 different patients. He deleted the claims from the clinic's practice management software shortly after submitting them in order to avoid detection from employees and health practitioners of the clinic. The investigation was commenced when several members of the public made enquiries about their claim history for services they had neither sought nor received. The man pleaded guilty to 6 charges of fraud under the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth) and was sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Three family members submitted false claims for Family Day Care in 2015 to defraud the program of $955,438.32. The judge noted during sentencing that the family knew the claims were fraudulent as child care services had never been provided. The family members received jail sentences that ranged between 4 years and 18 months.