Timothy Marsh sentenced for falsely receiving $1000 in disaster recovery fund

An SA man who went along with a plan pretending his Queensland home had flooded to claim a recovery payment when he was safe in Adelaide has been slammed by a magistrate.

A father who agreed to take part in a scheme where he pretended to be a flood victim has been slammed by a magistrate who said his actions were “morally repugnant”.

Timothy Paul Marsh, 43, was ordered to pay back the $1000 he falsely received or risk going back to jail.

The Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday heard there was flood in Far North Queensland in February 2019.

Flood victims could apply for the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Fund and receive a one-off $1000 payment if they had been adversely affected.

The court heard a man called the call centre in April 2019 and told the operator he lived in a Townsville suburb and his house had been flooded out.

Timothy Marsh was handed a suspended sentence for falsely claiming $1000 in a disaster recovery fund. Picture: Facebook

“He claimed to be you … we know from the recording of the call that it was not you,” Magistrate Karim Soetratma said during sentencing.

The court heard Marsh had given his identification details to the caller.

“The operator was fooled into believing that you were entitled to the disaster payment,” Mr Soetratma said.

$1000 was then paid to Marsh’s account and withdrawn.

The Taperoo father pleaded guilty to dealing with proceeds of crime under $100,000.

The court heard someone told Marsh this was a way to get money and he agreed to take part.

“At the time of this matter you were suffering drug addiction, your engagement had been broken off by your fiancé shortly before the offence,” Mr Soetratma said.

“Your mental health deteriorated and your drug use increased.”

The court heard Marsh had worked in the trucking industry and in factory roles.

The court heard Marsh was remorseful for his offending and wasn’t presently taking drugs.

“It is everyone’s expectation that their tax dollars allocated to disaster recovery victims actually go to disaster recovery victims,” Mr Soetratma said.

“In my view, helping someone to pretend to be a victim to take money from real victims is morally repugnant and it shares moral characteristics with looting property from disaster victims.”

Mr Soetratma sentenced Marsh to 66 days jail, backdated 51 days for the time Marsh has spent in custody.

The remaining 15 days were suspended on a three-year good behaviour bond, with an order for Marsh to pay $1000 by June 30.