Stephen Hancock charged with defrauding NSW Government in alleged bushfire grants scam
They had no idea it was even going on until detectives knocked on their door. A family west of Kempsey has allegedly been the victims of a bushfire business grants scam. A Belmont South man has been charged.
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It’s been an onerous 12 months for Willawarrin couple Jamie Zaia and Anita Reeves and their three kids, who lost everything in the bushfires when their family home was destroyed as a fierce blaze ripped through their property, west of Kempsey.
While the pain has somewhat subsided from that scary day on November 8 last year, the memories have now come flooding back.
The couple have unwittingly been the victims of an alleged bushfire scam, where their fire ravaged property had allegedly been used to claim $50,000 for an online small business bushfire recovery grant, through Services NSW.
The family only became aware of the alleged activity when they were alerted by Lake Macquarie detectives last month, who established Strike Force Roche to investigate a group of offenders who were allegedly committing fraud against the government department.
“It’s taken nearly this long for us to start healing and get over it, we didn’t want to buy another house, we’re still renting, and then this came up,” Mr Zaia said.
“We didn’t have a business or anything there. We just bred Great Danes, my daughter rides horses and my son rides motorbikes.”
Stephen Gregory Hancock from Belmont South has been charged over the alleged fraud involving the couple’s former rented property at Willawarrin, as well as other alleged fraud charges against Services NSW.
Police allege the 37-year-old went to the property and took photos before the rubble was removed, and used that to make an application for a grant.
Hancock has been charged with three counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception between April and July this year, totalling $110,000.
He also has an additional charge of attempting to dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception in June where he allegedly attempted to scam $10,000 from the Services NSW grants scheme, which was scheduled to be deposited into his Westpac bank account, but never made it.
Hancock appeared at Belmont Local Court on Wednesday with his solicitor Iain Bruce.
The court heard the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would not come into the matter, and it was set to stay in the local court, as it was adjourned until next month.
Hunter woman Tiffany-Anne Brislane-Brown was the first to be charged over defrauding Services NSW in the bushfire small business grants scheme.
The 23-year-old — well-known for calling out Newcastle Police for posting a “trailer trash” mugshot of her on their Facebook - pleaded guilty last month to six counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.
Police facts detailed how Brislane-Brown used different bank accounts, emails and phone numbers to scam Service NSW out of $60,000, claiming she was a business that had been affected by the bushfires.
Investigations continue.