Mathew John McArthur helped 25 people make false Covid and flood claims

A drug addict has been jailed for falsely claiming thousands of dollars in Covid relief for himself and then acting “as a mule” to distribute more than $40,000 in illegal payments to others.

Mathew John McArthur walked into the Mackay court house but he didn’t walk out after he was jailed for his role if defrauding the government of more than $40k.

A meth addict has been jailed for falsely claiming thousands of dollars in Covid relief for himself and then acting “as a mule” to distribute more than $40,000 in illegal payments to others.

At the time Mackay man Mathew John McArthur, who was on parole and probation, had viewed it as an opportunity to get his hands on some “quick and easy money”.

But on Tuesday he couldn’t hold back the tears and said “please no” on learning he would spend the next four months behind bars for “very serious behaviour” that included conduct described as being akin to money laundering.

Commonwealth Prosecutor Sam Lanskey said the now 33 year old first applied for the maximum amount of Covid relief for lost wages for himself, totalling $3000 over four $750 payments.

“Those claims were automatically approved and paid to his nominated bank account,” Mr Lanskey said.

“Each of the four claims were false.”

Mackay Magistrates Court heard he stated he worked for Woodman’s Roofing, who “later confirmed (McArthur) was never employed by them”.

Others then hit McArthur up to use his bank account to also make fake claims – and he agreed, for a cut or some benefit although it wasn’t made clear how much or what he received.

The court heard 25 different people made false applications, either for the Covid relief payments or the disaster recovery payments, with a total of $40,500 deposited in McArthur’s bank account – he then “acted as a mule” and distributed the funds.

Mathew John McArthur lined his pockets with money fraudulently claimed $3000 in lost wages via the Australian governments Covid relief fund.

“He knew the payments were fraudulently obtained,” Mr Lanskey said, adding some of the applicants of the disaster recovery funds had claimed to live at flood impacted addresses in Dalby and Gympie.

The court heard others applying for the Covid relief payments also falsely stated they worked at Woodman’s Roofing.

“These payments are for people who are truly suffering loss because they can’t earn wages,” Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan said, adding that the system relied “on the honesty of members of the public” because it could not be closely policed.

“A message needs to be sent to the community that this kind of behaviour won’t be tolerated.”

McArthur, who was 30 at the time, pleaded guilty to obtaining financial advantage by deception between March 2-23, 2022, and dealing in proceeds of crime worth $10,000 or more between March 24 and May 13, 2022.

Since the offending he has paid back $3707.73 through Centrelink withholdings, which was effectively just more than what he claimed for himself.

Also in his favour were early pleas of guilty and that he made full and frank admissions.

Barron and Allen Lawyers solicitor Aaron Sellentin conceded jail was the only option, but had been pushing for a non custodial sentence arguing his client had taken huge steps towards his rehabilitation.

The court heard it was accepted McArthur’s propensity to commit dishonesty crimes were linked to his long-term meth addiction.

Following this offending McArthur had to complete an intensive corrections order for unrelated matters and was praised for doing so – he had to engage with a psychologist and remain drug free.

The court heard in November 2024 he returned clean drug tests.

However just before the sentencing hearing Ms Hartigan requested McArthur complete a further drug test, to show he had continued with his rehabilitation.

McArthur will se

Mr Sellentin told the court this was not possible because his client had panicked on learning of the request and had consumed meth the day before his case was in court.

Ms Hartigan told McArthur she had made the request because she was worried without the stringent conditions of the ICO “you will have returned to drugs and I was right”.

“If you’re still using drugs to manage your stress that tells me you have not rehabilitated yourself,” Ms Hartigan said, adding the steps he had taken were “really impressive … but you’ve fallen short”.

It was accepted McArthur had been actively looking for work and that he did not benefit from the full amount linked to the charges.

“But you are still responsible for the total amount that was essentially defrauded from the Australian government,” Ms Hartigan said, also stating the penalty needed to deter both the general public and specifically McArthur given his criminal history.

He was jailed for 18 months to be released after serving four months, and he will also be placed on a four-year $10,000 good behaviour bond. Convictions were recorded.

Ms Hartigan declined to make a reparation order, which would make McArthur liable to be sued for the full amount, stating it was known who else was involved and they should be pursued.