NDIS Scam: $8 Million Worth Luxury Mansions Revealed As Owned By Companies Allegedly Scamming Australia’s Disabled
- The federal government investigates an alleged NDIS scam
- Three suspects allegedly may have stolen money from the scheme
- Do you know more? Email tips@dailymail.com
Government investigators believe a number of properties worth millions were purchased with funds allegedly stolen from the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The federal government’s Fusion Taskforce is investigating whether three key suspects used NDIS funds to purchase seven properties worth more than $8.3 million.
Properties in western and southwestern Sydney were raided last month as part of the force’s investigation into an alleged criminal ring that claimed more than $28 million via the NDIS.
The suspects are being investigated for allegedly “stealing” the NDIS of genuine recipients without their knowledge, giving false invoices for services that were not provided, and claiming NDIS payments for people without disabilities.
NDIS minister Bill Shorten said he was stunned by the “depravity of degenerates who rob profoundly disabled Australians to buy McMansions with koi ponds, saunas and arcades”.
The federal government’s Fusion Taskforce is investigating whether three key suspects used NDIS funds to purchase seven properties worth more than $8.3 million (one above)
“If we find any property bought by stealing from the NDIS, we will recover as much money as we can,” he told the saturday telegraph.
“We have children in Australia who are quadriplegic who need 24-hour assistance just to eat, breathe, wash, but instead we have people who take your money.
‘I don’t want NDIS participants to be the scapegoats.
‘Thank goodness we have established the Fusion Taskforce against fraud because if we hadn’t, people would still be hatching schemes to take money meant for those people.
‘The crime against the NDIS scheme is a gutless crime.’
One of the suspects, who was targeted in the first raid on July 2, owns two properties in western Sydney worth more than $2.5 million.
One property is a luxurious four-bedroom home valued at $1.2 million with a heated in-ground pool, large barbecue area, spa bath, game room, and CCTV security.
The other property is a $1.425 million four-bedroom home.
The second suspect, a ‘close associate’ of the first, owns a $1.4 million six-bedroom, four-bathroom property in south-west Sydney.
Properties (one above) in Sydney were raided last month as part of the investigation into an alleged criminal ring that claimed more than $28 million via the NDIS.
They allegedly spent almost $150,000 renovating the house that also has a separate apartment for grannies.
The two suspects have been involved in nearly 20 different businesses, including a registered charity, allegedly under variations of their names.
Another suspect who owns multiple homes valued at nearly $3.5 million was raided two weeks ago.
He is allegedly the director, shareholder and secretary of 14 different companies, all of which are registered under variations of his name.
One of its properties was purchased a year ago for $1.375 million, which would be developed and converted into accommodation for NDIS participants.
The accommodation proposal was described as a “money machine”.
Another of his assets, a six-bedroom mansion, was valued at $1.28 million, while an associate of his, who is also under investigation, owns an $800,000 property.
Specialists will examine home purchases through electronic documents and records.
Specialists will examine home purchases (one above) by reviewing documents and electronic records
Investigators are understood to be working hard to find out the extent of the suspects’ alleged fraud and track down evidence to support criminal prosecution.
Future charges could include tax fraud, money laundering and managing the proceeds of crime.
If convicted, the suspects could face decades behind bars.
