Controversial NDIS provider Cocoon SDA vows to fight life ban

The parent company of Cocoon SDA Care — and its director — have been banned from working in the NDIS by the watchdog. It has vowed to fight the ban.

A controversial NDIS company that traded under Cocoon SDA Care and its sole director have been slapped with permanent banning orders by the NDIS watchdog.

Horizon SolSolutions - the parent company of Cocoon SDA Care — and its director Muhammad Latif will no longer be able to offer services to NDIS participants.

The regulator said other individuals and businesses linked to Horizon will continue to be monitored, and it will take further action as appropriate.

The decision follows a detailed investigation by the regulator that it says uncovered serious and systemic misconduct, including improper and false service claims for participants who were deceased or incarcerated, and unlawful breaches of participant privacy.

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner Louise Glanville said the Commission is committed to upholding the human rights of NDIS participants and will not tolerate misconduct by providers that puts participants at risk.

Cocoon SDA Care website, which claimed it had been named by the Australian Financial Review as one of the best polaces to work. Supplied

“Horizon has grossly violated the trust placed in them by participants, families and frontline staff – this was nothing less than callous and deliberate abuse of a system designed to support dignity, independence and fairness for people with disability,” Commissioner Glanville said.

“Our investigation found Horizon repeatedly breached the NDIS Code of Conduct by failing to act with integrity, honesty and transparency. We also identified service failings that demonstrated this provider is not competent to deliver NDIS services and supports.

“A permanent ban on the company and its director prevents any future access to NDIS funds and sends a strong message to the community that exploitation will not be tolerated.”

However, Cocoon’s Corporate Strategist Zaffar Khan said the decision was “heavy-handed” and that they would be seeking legal advice with the view of fighting it.

Mr Khan has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

He criticised the Commission in his statement.

“I am concerned that the Commission – an independent, statutory agency whose purpose is to

safeguard the health and welfare of NDIS Participants - is in practice operating as an enforcement agency to back up the National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) financial blockade of Cocoon SDA Care,” Mr Khan said.

“The financial blockade imposed in March by the withholding of all payments to our business has had catastrophic impacts on innocent Australians. Hundreds of NDIS participants have been stripped of support from trusted, close-knit personal carers and support staff, with many also losing their homes.

NDIS firm Cocoon SDA Care’s co-founder Zaffar Khan. Picture: LinkedIn

“I believe the small number of isolated – and principally administrative errors – identified in the Commission’s correspondence to Cocoon are matters which ordinarily should have been

addressed through a Direction to Rectify, a financial fine or even a compliance notice.”

Mr Khan said among the hundreds of participants that Cocoon previously supported, and the thousands of hours of care previously provided each week by support workers, the NDIA and the Commission have found fault in how just a few hours of service over a handful of days were provided to half a dozen participants.

He said it was important to note that the Federal Court heard from NDIA bureaucrats who acknowledged in cross-examination that the agency had not been able to identify findings of fraud or non-compliance against Cocoon SDA Care.

“From day one, we have been transparent – and fully co-operating with authorities, providing

detailed responses to any allegations,” Mr Khan said.

“We believe there is a serious issue here: whatever our alleged failings may be, this isn’t just

about Cocoon. Every NDIS business can now expect to face undue and disproportionate

pressure from government.”

Horizon was given a 30-day temporary ban by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission in early May, while the agency did a manual audit of the company.

It sparked turmoil among hundreds of participants who were forced to find new providers, some had to move home.

Federal court papers stated that the company had allegedly made NDIS claims for prisoners and $77,000 for three dead people, as well as not providing services to some participants according to their plans.

Muhammad Latif, sole director of NDIS provider Horizon SolSolutions, pictured at his Auburn home. Picture: Julian Andrews

This masthead has also produced a series of exclusive stories revealing how investors in specialist disability accommodation had allegedly not received the promised returns they had expected and how corporate strategist and ex-bankrupt Zaffar Khan spent hundreds of thousands of dollars travelling around the world touting for business.

The company, which claimed more than $50m of taxpayers money a year, once spent $30,000 to have lunch with the Lord Mayor of Brisbane.

Multiple former employees have spoken out saying they had made complaints about Cocoon going back years, including former CEO Tanya-Lee Quinn.

The Commission acknowledged there had been 32 tip offs about Cocoon over the years.

Ms Quinn said she tipped off Bill Shorten’s office, the NDIA, the watchdog, the AFP, the Australian Taxation Office and the corporate watchdog ASIC, in 2023, but the company was allowed to continue operating for almost two years.

Mr Khan and Mr Latif have previously denied any wrongdoing and can appeal the watchdog’s ban.