Adam Granato: Gateshead man used pictures of bushfire victim’s home to scam $50K support grant

Detectives drove two hours to the Mid-North Coast to speak to a homeowner, blowing a fraud investigation into Gateshead man Adam Granato wide open.

Adam Granato lied to claim $50,000 in bushfire support from the NSW Government. Picture: Emily Burley.

A Gateshead man who used pictures of a Mid-North Coast home destroyed by bushfire to try to defraud the NSW Government of $50,000 has been told he’s likely to spend time behind bars.

Adam Paul Granato previously pleaded guilty in Belmont Local Court to one count of dishonestly obtaining financial benefit by deception.

The 39-year-old had applied online in July last year for the Small Business Bushfire Recovery Grant from Service NSW, claiming his business Hunter Valley Concreting had been affected by the November 2019 fires.

Adam Granato leaving Belmont Courthouse on Wednesday. Picture: Emily Burley.

But Granato missed out on the payment, with detectives from the Lake Macquarie-based Strike Force Roche, set up to investigate bushfire and COVID relief fraud, intervening before the money hit his Commonwealth Bank account.

Court documents have for the first time revealed the lengths Granato went to in order to carry out the scam.

The swindle began to unravel when he was questioned by officers at Belmont Police Station about unrelated alleged drug offences, a week after he made the application.

Police used it as a chance to probe the bushfire claim.

Bushfires tore through the Mid-North Coast village of Old Bar in November 2019. Picture: AAP/Darren Pateman.

“The accused was spoken to about the Service NSW Small Business Bushfire Recovery Grant application for $50,000,” the documents said.

“The accused was cooperative with police enquiries surrounding the investigation and told police that there were images on his phone that relate to the application.

“The accused’s mobile was seized as an exhibit for the images and data to be retrieved and evidenced.

“On the application the accused Granato claimed he was running a business from the address before it was destroyed by fire, with Granato intending on re-establishing the business in the same community.”

Police confirmed seven pictures used in Granato’s application and found on his phone were of an Old Bar home destroyed by fire, but were suspicious over his connection to the property.

Adam Granato will return to Belmont Courthouse for sentencing in September. Picture: Emily Burley

Investigators made the two-hour drive to speak to the homeowner, who had lived there for over 50 years.

“(The owner) reports that there has never been any business operating from the property and they don’t know any person named Adam Granato,” the documents said.

Confronted with this information four days later, Granato’s story changed.

“The accused told police he had never been to and/or resided at the address identified,” the documents said.

“Furthermore telling investigators that the money had not been distributed into his account yet.

“The accused told police that he was going to cancel the application when he leaves the police station.”

Granato did contact Service NSW to cancel the $50,000 claim that day and he never received the money.

But he was still charged over making the application.

In Belmont Local Court on Wednesday, straight-shooting magistrate Michael Morahan told Granato, who was serving a community corrections order when he made the claim, he was likely to be jailed.

Granato will be sentenced on September 3.