Newcastle bushfire fraud crackdown: The penalties alleged scammers could get

A wave of people charged with support funds fraud is hitting Hunter courts, as Strike Force Roche makes more arrests.

Police are targetting people who wrongly claimed support funds set up in response to last summer’s bushfires. Picture: Dan Himbrechts.

A wave of new offences is crashing over courts in Newcastle and the Hunter.

People accused of wrongly claiming bushfire and coronavirus relief funds are being netted by Strike Force Roche, and sent straight to magistrates.

The support programs were set up as a lifeline for those experiencing hardship, but for some, the temptation to claim money they weren’t entitled to proved too great.

Detectives from the strike force, who work out of Lake Macquarie and investigate alleged scams across the north of the state, are investigating dozens of people accused of wrongly claiming a collective $20 million in support money.

Fourtree Lawyers principal solicitor Kevin Vierboom said many people didn’t consider wrongly claim the funds as fraud. Picture: Supplied.

Hunter woman Tiffany-Anne Brislane-Brown was the first person charged.

She was jailed for two years and nine months after pleading guilty to fraudulently claiming $60,000 in relief funds.

The hard work of detectives hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Fourtree Lawyers principal solicitor Kevin Vierboom said the string of arrests would be a wakeup call for many.

“Most people don’t consider the obtaining of a government grant to be fraud, or for that matter a serious offence,” Mr Vierboom said.

“The reality is the assistance was offered on the basis that an applicant met certain criteria which were clearly defined.”

In some cases people may have claimed the funds as a genuine mistake, but in matters appearing before the courts, alleged scammers often went to great lengths to cover their tracks.

In one current matter, Cessnock woman Ellen Louise Howard was alleged to have created multiple bank accounts and email addresses to swindle $110,000.

Tiffany-Anne Brislane-Brown was jailed after pleading guilty to fraudulently claiming $60,000. Picture: Facebook.

It’s alleged she carried a ledger to keep track of her aliases.

Howard has pleaded not guilty to the 16 charges.

Mr Vierboom said businesses that “cooked the books” to claim money would also come under the microscope.

The ATO is using data-matching technology to find inconsistencies relating to unused ABNs, business cash flow, JobKeeper claims and the early release of superannuation.

“It would be a comparatively simple matter to match the ATO’s database against any sort of Commonwealth-obtained benefit,” Mr Vierboom said.

A Warner’s Bay woman was charged just last week after allegedly falsely claiming $20,000 in small business grants.

It’s alleged she tried to access a further $40,000 in support.

The 27-year-old will head to court in January.

For those found to have committed an offence by a magistrate, possible penalties range from fines or repaying the money, to up to 10 years behind bars.

More arrests are expected as Strike Force Roche continues its crackdown.