Andreas Gerasimos Strepelias fronts court to learn his fate for defrauding the NDIS services

A low-life Melbourne fraudster has been at it again pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars meant to support people with disabilities.

Andreas Strepelias outside the Victoria County Court after his sentencing on fraud charges.

A con artist who served time in a Queensland prison for fraud has narrowly avoided jail in Victoria after ripping off the NDIS to the tune of $190,000 .

Andreas Gerasimos Strepelias, 46, pleaded guilty to two charges of dishonestly causing a loss to a Commonwealth entity at the County Court on Wednesday.

He fraudulently claimed $191,159.71 as an approved NDIS provider for NDIS over two months between May and July 2018 for work he never actually undertook, and was slapped with a three-year good behaviour bond.

The offending consisted of some 80 claims related to 49 NDIS participants.

In one instance, Strepelias made 10 payment requests in 10 days, claiming thousands in linen services, house and yard work, and transport.

He did perform some work for clients, but exaggerated his efforts: for example, on one occasion Strepelias claimed 119 hours for house or yard work when he had actually done four hours.

On another, he claimed about $19,000 of linen servicing, none of which he had really done.

Judge Trevor Wraight said Strepelias offending affected vulnerable members of the community as it reduced the amount of funds they were able to use to provide support services.

“One victim said the situation caused her stress, anxiety which exacerbated her multiple sclerosis symptoms, which resulted in relapses.

“Another victim who has autism spectrum disorder and excessive compulsive disorder also experienced the worsening of her symptoms as a result of your offending.

“The third victim was unable to attend a YMCA camp due to insufficient funds which caused his mother psychological stress,” Judge Wraight said.

Strepelias attended St Bede’s College in Mentone and undertook a number of jobs before his offending in Queensland and Victoria.

He pleaded guilty to four charges of fraud against the Queensland Government that he committed between December 2916 and January 2018.

He served nine months in jail.

On his offending in Victoria, a number of victim impact statements were tendered in court from Strepelias’ family, members of the Greek community, and a long-standing friend.

Judge Wraight said all spoke with a united Voice to the shock they experienced having learnt of Strepelias offending as they knew him as a trustworthy, caring and hardworking individual.

Strepelias offered $94,030 to the prosecution as part of restitution and, together with his early guilty pleas which nullified the need for a contested committal hearing, Judge Wraight said a prison term would have a huge impact on him.