Paul Smith: Gilgandra fraudster sentenced for Centrelink lies

A fraudster who lied to Centrelink about his income 117 times pocketed more than $50,000 in cash he was never entitled to.

A former gambling addict has been ordered to pay back more than $50,000 to Centrelink after he was caught out lying about his income to get unemployment benefits.

Gilgandra Paul Justin Smith received convictions for three counts of receiving financial advantage from a Commonwealth entity when he faced Dubbo Local Court on Friday.

Traffic controller Paul Smith (not pictured) was spared jail. Picture: DTC Training RTO 41518/Facebook (file photo).

According to court documents, the 41-year-old lied to Centrelink about his income 117 times between 2014 and 2019.

Over the five-year period, Smith had a gross income of about $249,000 from his job as a Dubbo traffic controller, however he told Centrelink he earned about $19,000.

Smith’s lies meant Centrelink paid him about $55,000 in Newstart payments he was not entitled to.

The actual amount Smith was entitled to was $2780, court documents stated.

Paul Smith has been ordered to pay Centrelink back. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

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A data investigation conducted by the Australian Taxation Office uncovered the fraud and Smith pleaded guilty to the three fraud offences he was charged with.

In court defence lawyer Vinith Vijay said Smith “was going through a bad time” when he defrauded Centrelink.

“He had a gambling problem,” Mr Vijay said.

“He was in bad arrears, financially speaking.

“He’s gotten through the gambling addiction, he tells me his finances are now good.”

Paul Smith fronted Dubbo Local Court after defrauding Centrelink. Picture: Jedd Manning

Mr Vijay said Smith claimed he had started to pay back the Centrelink debt.

“I believe the deductions are coming from the Centrelink payments.

“He has a fairly limited record which entitles him to leniency.”

Magistrate Gary Wilson sentenced Smith to an intensive corrections order for 12 months and ordered him to do 175 hours of community service work and pay Centrelink back the full amount he fraudulently claimed.

“Centrelink fraud is all too common,” Magistrate Wilson said.

“The only reason it stopped is because you were investigated.”

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