Paolo Esmaquel fronts court over MediCare rort worth $7.5m Crim syndicate’s lavish lifestyle after rorting MediCare of $7.5m revealed

A greedy criminal who was part of a syndicate that stole $7.5m in fraudulent MediCare benefits blew the money on fancy cars, handbags and flash gear from the top end of town.

Melbourne fraudster Paolo Esmaquel has gone to jail for obtaining $7.5m in MediCare benefits using the identity of 147 people.

A key player in a Melbourne criminal syndicate that stole $7.5m and splurged it on luxury female fashion items, hotels and cars has been jailed for more than five years.

Paolo Esmaquel pleaded guilty to charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception and dealing with proceeds of crime in the County Court after she and her cohorts lashed out on at high-end stores such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry and at Crown Towers Melbourne

Esmaquel was part of what Judge Richard Maidment described as an “elaborate and carefully constructed fraudulent scheme” where 1858 MediCare claims were lodged using the identity of 147 customers without their knowledge as he jailed the crook for five years and four months.

Services Australia paid out $7.5m into bank accounts controlled either by Esmaquel or an associate between May and December 2022.

Judge Maidment said among purchases Esmaquel made included $46,380 at Fendi at Chadstone, $37,735 at Temelli Jewellery, $54,000 at Louis Vuitton stores across Melbourne, $14,500 at Harvey Norman in Preston, $12,740 at Burberry and $7929 at Sofitel Melbourne.

Fraudster Paolo Esmaquel splashed tens of thousands of fraudulently obtained money on luxury goods from the likes of Louis Vuitton.

She also purchased two Mercedes, a Range Rover and a Toyota Kluger from the ill-gotten gains.

“It’s difficult to exclude the possibility of others being covertly involved in the planning, direction or execution of such an elaborate scheme,” Judge Maidment said.

“No more than a very small number of people were identified by investigators as participants in or beneficiaries from the offending and none of them appeared to have any directorial or executive function in its creation or operation.

“The role of those persons identified was plainly less significant than yours. Evidence demonstrated you were a very substantial financial beneficiary, spending substantial sums of money freely and extravagantly on luxury goods.”

Paolo Esmaquel paid nearly $8000 to stay at Sofitel Melbourne on Collins St.

Esmaquel told a psychologist that she offended as part of a syndicate of “approximately 15 to 18 people” and one of her reasons for the crime was her desire to “feel needed” and her “lack of purpose”

She was arrested when Australian Federal Police and officials from Services Australia executed a warrant at a house on Mt Alexander Rd in Essendon in December 2022 and found Esmaquel with a significant number of $50 notes.

She will be eligible for parole in three years and four months.