Lloyd John Tree in court for fraud

The long arm of the law finally caught up with the Tin Can Bay sailor after almost two decades posing as a man who had died in the 1940s. Read how he was eventually brought undone.

A 79-year-old Tin Can Bay man has been jailed after it was revealed he scammed the Australian Government out of more than $330,000.

Lloyd John Tree was supported by two people in the Gympie District Court on Monday, as details of how he spent nearly two decades using a false identity to obtain a second passport and numerous Government benefits were shared.

The court heard Tree, who was 58 at the time, first assumed the identity of Russell Graham Tree in 1998, after the real Russell Tree passed away in Western Australia almost 50 years earlier in 1948.

He used the false identity to obtain a second passport, and proceeded to scam the Federal Government out of $337,313.77 in social security benefits, while already receiving social security benefits in his own name.

The court heard Tree even appealed a decision to reject a disability support pension application under the false identity during this time.

John Lloyd Tree was jailed after he pleaded guilty to five fraud charges in Gympie District Court on Monday. Photo: Elizabeth Neil

This continued for more than 18 years, until Tree was caught on August 20, 2019, while making an application for a new passport using his real identity.

The court heard he was undone with facial recognition technology from the Australian Passport Office, which launched an investigation.

Tree was arrested on October 1, 2019, at 76-years-old.

Defence barrister Mark Dixon said his client was in “good health” for someone his age, despite being a diabetic, and lives an “isolated” existence on a boat in Tin Can Bay.

Gympie District Court heard Lloyd John Tree scammed the government out of more than $330,000 over nearly two decades.

He said his client had not worked since the 1970s, but often helped in the Tin Can Bay community with chainsaw work, such as helping with fallen trees.

The court heard Tree had already repaid $8973.30 in restitution.

He pleaded guilty to five charges, including defrauding the commonwealth, giving false or misleading information in relation to an Australian travel document, and three charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

He was jailed for four years, but will be released on parole on January 18, 2024.

A conviction was recorded.