Supercars seized from home of Cabramatta pharmacy boss Ben Huynh amid PBS fraud charge
A luxury Ferrari is carted away on the back of a flatbed truck. Now its owner, a south-west Sydney pharmacist, has been charged with fraud.
Police & Courts
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A sleek, vibrant red Ferrarri laying limp and lifeless on the back of a flatbed truck - it’s a sight likely to cause grief to any lover of a European supercar built for performance and speed.
But the fate of this particular supercar - owned by Sydney pharmacy boss Ben Huynh - allegedly has nothing to do with engineering troubles, and everything to do with troubles of a legal kind.
Huynh, the proprietor of the Cabramatta East Day Night Pharmacy, fronted Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court this week charged with one count of obtaining a financial advantage by deception, a week after federal police raided his plush rural property at Dural, in Sydney’s north-west.
According to The Australian newspaper, officers seized a BMW and three Ferraris, including one emblazoned with 888 on the side, which Huynh has been pictured driving at track race meets in the past.
The Australian reported authorities will allege in court Huynh was involved in an alleged Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme fraud, in which he is accused of submitting false claims for medications under the PBS that were not prescribed by a medical practitioner and not supplied to a patient.
Both the AFP and the federal Department of Health and Aged Care declined to comment on the raid when contacted by News Corp.
“A warrant was executed. Further comments specifying details cannot be released at this time,’’ a department spokeswoman said at the time.
Huynh is a prominent member of Supercars Club Australia, an exclusive group catering to the owners of luxury sports cars imported into Australia for personal and amateur racing use.
According to the club’s website, members must own “at least a … Ferrari, Lamborghini or Mclaren, not SUVs”.
“Any other make or models, will be up to our discretion,” the website reads.
The club’s Instagram page boasts 2,500 followers and features dozens of pictures and videos of supercars and their owners on private, members-only drive days around Sydney and beyond.
Huynh, who appears in several photographs on the page alongside fellow owners, was pictured trackside at the 2023 Australian F1 Grand Prix with the group, including attending an exclusive lunch with Spanish Formula One driver and Scuderia Ferrari team member, Carlos Sainz.
In a post on the page in December last year, Huynh was congratulated on being the proud new owner of a sleek black and green Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae Roadster.
Huynh’s wife, entrepreneur Le Thach, is listed as the founder of Supercars Australia.
She and Huynh recently posted a photograph of themselves attending the Birdcage at the Melbourne Cup, apparently as guests of Crown Sydney and Mumm champagne.
Ms Thach has not been charged and is not accused of any wrongdoing.
When contacted about the matter, an Australian Federal Police spokesperson referred the Telegraph to the federal Department of Health.
A spokesperson for the Pharmacy Council of NSW said national health practitioner laws required pharmacists to notify the Pharmacy Board of Australia within seven days if they are charged with an offence punishable by 12 months imprisonment or more.
The charge of obtaining a financial advantage by deception carries a maximum penalty of 10 years jail on indictment.
The spokesperson said the council could not, by law, “provide information about an individual complaint or practitioner unless it is information that is publicly available or the disclosure is with the agreement of the practitioner”.
“A registered health practitioner’s registration status is publicly available on the National Register of Practitioners,” the spokesperson said.
Huynh’s registration is listed as current on the register.
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