Bill Shorten has NDIS fraudsters in his sights as government chase half a billion dollars lost
Criminal syndicates lodging false disability claims and unethical providers who siphon cash from legitimate recipients are under investigation for defrauding almost half a billion dollars from the NDIS.
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Criminal syndicates lodging false disability claims and unethical providers who siphon cash from legitimate recipients are under investigation for defrauding almost half a billion dollars from the NDIS, as the federal government warns it is closing in on “crooks and rent seekers” ripping off the scheme.
A crackdown on dodgy NDIS claims and illegal activity has resulted in 58 active cases of suspected fraud totalling more than $405 million under review, including 22 incidents in NSW, eight each in Victoria and Queensland, and three in South Australia.
Cases include a Western Sydney man charged over a $3.3m alleged fraud, two men in Adelaide charged with 19 fraud related offences totalling $465,000 and a Brisbane man charged with more than 25 offences for $430,000 in fraud.
Also in Sydney a man found to be the ringleader of a six-person criminal syndicate that claimed $10m in NDIS funding was recently jailed for three years.
NDIS and Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said there were already signs the activity of the government’s Fraud Fusion Taskforce launched last October was driving wrongdoers out of the sector.
“I take this as a small, tiny green shoot of positive good news that the number of NDIS businesses people are starting to try and sell now is increasing,” he said.
“Which means to me that the words out … the ‘good times’ coming to an end for unethical behaviour.”
Mr Shorten said with each raid and investigation the “patterns of cheating” the NDIS were becoming clearer.
He said unethical providers price gouging and overcharging were just as damaging as organised crime groups using fake identities, addresses and other illegal means of defrauding the scheme.
“This is money if it wasn’t ripped off by crooks, would be going to quadriplegics and people with vision impairment,” he said.
“This doesn’t mean the scheme is bad, it just means there’s some bad people trying to take advantage.”
Mr Shorten said he was hopeful a review of the scheme due in October would provide ideas to “lock up the back doors of the system” to prevent fraud and vowed to implement any necessary changes to the law as soon as possible.
“If legislative changes are required, I’d want to be doing it by the first (parliament sitting) session of next year,” he said.
The types of fraud being detected include individuals and organised crime groups who are promising people cash or gifts to try and get access to the NDIS, encouraging people to access the scheme with fake medical evidence and diagnosis, or changing real evidence to falsely increase a person’s NDIS budget.
Some investigations also relate to claiming for services that were never delivered and the targeting NDIS participants with false information about how the scheme works, and how to spend their funds.
In many cases fraudsters have been found hiding behind multiple businesses or using fake identities, contact details or fake addresses.
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Originally published as Bill Shorten has NDIS fraudsters in his sights as government chase half a billion dollars lost
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