Infamous conman fights exile after swindling Centrelink using alias

A Centrelink conman who hoodwinked Australian authorities and ripped off victims for more than 30 years by using a fake identity is fighting deportation.

A CENTRELINK conman and serial fraudster from the US who hoodwinked Australian authorities and ripped off victims for more than three decades by using a fake identity, is fighting Peter Dutton’s bid to have him deported.

Former Gold Coast pizzeria owner and father-of-seven Michael Boghdadi Asaad, 80, had his spousal visa cancelled by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton in February 2018 after being jailed three years ago for defrauding Centrelink of $89,161 between 2002 and 2009.

Michael Boghdadi Asaad

During the trial in the District Court in Brisbane in 2016 prosecutors argued Asaad had created a false identity in 1992 when he applied for a birth certificate under his name in Tasmania.

Mr Dutton relied on Asaad’s conviction for Centrelink fraud and an Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision denying him the aged pension to conclude that Mr Asaad was not born in Australia and is not an Australian citizen.

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Asaad is alleged to have used the Tasmanian birth certificate to get an Australian passport in 1998, which gave him access to Centrelink benefits, the District Court trial heard.

Asaad declared bankruptcy in 2002 owing $388,000, but opened the Blue Jeans Pizza Restaurant in Nerang in 2004.

He is alleged to have arrived in Sydney on December 16, 1985 on a Qantas flight from Canada using a Canadian passport in the name of Rick Michaels, an assumed identity.

More recently the Federal Bureau of Investigation told Australian authorities that Asaad’s true identity was Farouk Asaad, a man with a US criminal history between 1971 and 1990 included passing bad cheques; non-sufficient funds; passing fictitious cheques; bank fraud and embezzlement; false statement on credit card application; probation violation; grand theft; uttering worthless documents and filing a fraudulent insurance claim.

Asaad denies the FBI criminal history attributed to Farouk Asaad, court documents state.

The judge who sentenced him for the Centrelink fraud stated Asaad had an ‘ingrained dishonesty and willingness to deceive and disregard the law” and noted Asaad had a “significant and serious criminal history” in Australia including three years jail for heroin dealing in NSW 1993, dishonesty in 1994 and a suspended sentence for fraud in Queensland in 2004.

In 2005 he was convicted of preparing to leave Australia as an undischarged bankrupt and carrying on business as an undischarged bankrupt and in 2009 he was sentenced for taking $53,000 from another person.

In 2010 he was sentenced to 18 months prison for obtaining $32,432 worth of goods or services as an undischarged bankrupt.

Last Wednesday Asaad filed a notice of appeal in the Federal Court, asking the court to quash the Minister’s decision and release him from immigration detention.

Asaad, who is representing himself in court and is in immigration detention in Villawood west of Sydney, is appealing a Federal Court decision handed down on June 14, court documents state.

In that decision Jusice John Reeves ruled Mr Dutton acted within his statutory discretion in making the decision.

No court date has been set for hearing his appeal.

Originally published as Infamous conman fights exile after swindling Centrelink using alias