Cessnock woman Ellen Howard scams states, charity out of $350k in bushfire, Covid payments
A Cessnock woman used photoshopped identity documents and stolen ABNs to claim relief payments she wasn’t entitled to, in a scam spanning three states and several months.
Police & Courts
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A Hunter Valley woman has admitted to stealing a jaw-dropping $350,000 in bushfire and Covid relief payments, after using stolen and photoshopped identity documents to access the money she wasn’t entitled to.
Ellen Louise Howard, 32, in May pleaded guilty in Cessnock Local Court to 24 frauds she committed last year.
Returning to court on Wednesday, the Aberdare woman entered guilty pleas to a further 16 dishonesty charges.
Court documents revealed in the initial 24 offences, Howard used identity documents as well as ABNs she created or stole to claim 11 NSW bushfire and Covid payments and 13 Victorian lockdown payments over a period of seven months.
Howard, who is unemployed and on Centrelink benefits, was not affected by the Black Summer bushfires or Covid lockdowns and has never lived in Victoria.
That didn’t stop her applying for $10,000 from Service NSW, telling the State Government her home burnt down in the late 2019 fires.
The truth was it received minor damage from a fire accidentally set during a fight with her ex-partner.
Howard went on to claim a further $93,000 from the NSW Government, posing as the owner of a Nabiac nursery, a Taree cafe and three agriculture businesses.
In one instance, the business had genuinely been impacted by bushfire and was unable to claim government support because of Howard’s scam.
Howard later turned her attention south, repeatedly defrauding the Victorian Government by claiming to be a worker affected during the state’s lengthy lockdown.
She used identity documents stolen from her mother, stepfather, best friend and a number of strangers, as well as photoshopped copies of Medicare cards, to apply for the $450 support payment 13 times.
In total, Howard collected just under $109,000 from the NSW and Victorian Governments.
The further 16 charges relate to over $250,000 Howard claimed from the same governments, the Tasmanian Government and a charity.
Court attendance notices showed Howard claimed 33 additional $450 Victorian lockdown payments, three $10,000 Tasmanian Covid-19 support payments and $1000 in bushfire appeal funds from the St Vincent de Paul Society.
The full details of those offences have yet to be tendered in court, with police and Howard’s lawyer still negotiating the facts.
Donna Smith told the court her client recently accessed mental health support and drug and alcohol counselling ahead of her sentencing for all of the fraud matters.
Magistrate Andrew Miller ordered Howard to return to court on July 21.
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