Disability support director pleads guilty to rorting NDIS of almost $300k
A Campbellfield disability support service director has admitted defrauding the NDIS of nearly $300,000 by claiming payments for services never delivered to vulnerable participants.
The director of a Campbellfield disability support service who rorted the NDIS out of almost $300,000 told investigators the accusations were “crazy” before she ended up pleading guilty to her offending.
Mumthaj Begam Kantara, 60, pleaded guilty in Melbourne County Court to 14 counts of dishonest conduct causing a loss to the NDIS.
She was the director of Elite Smart Community Care and obtained fraudulent payments totalling $296,012 from services not provided to five participants, with $10,500 refunded.
Services claimed and not provided from January 2019 to November 2022 included community social and recreational activities, short-term accommodation and respite, self-care assistance and co-ordination of support services.
One participant was overseas when a payment claim for services was made.
The court heard Kantara authorised all payment requests and invoices and when interviewed by investigators she said the allegation of making false claims was “crazy”.
A victim impact statement from a family member of a participant said the fraud was a “breach of trust” of people who deserved “honest and fair services delivered with integrity”.
The family member said the participant felt a “deep sense of betrayal” and “significant stress”.
The court heard mitigating factors for Kantara’s sentence included her character and the hardship it would cause her family as she provides care for her husband, one of her three children and one of her four grandchildren.
Ms Morgan Brown said the offending was “opportunistic”, “unsophisticated” and the business did not exist to exploit as it was a “genuine provider” of support services.
She said the motivation was not “cold hard greed” and there was no evidence of the money being used on luxury items such as cars or overseas holidays.
Ms Brown said Kantara’s prospects of rehabilitation were good due to her age a as first-time offender and that she had not reoffended since 2022.
Judge John Kelly said Kantara was taking money, which had not been repaid, from people in a “vulnerable sector of the community” repeatedly across three years.
The matter will reappear in court for sentencing on March 20, 2026 and Kantara’s bail was extended.
