By Perry Duffin
Two Sydney men allegedly filled out false sexual assault claims, using the identities of two dozen women, to defraud the government’s victim compensation scheme of more than $200,000.
Nicholas Briggs, 37, and Jaiden Gribble, 30, did not ask for release on bail when they fronted Burwood Local Court after being arrested on Monday morning at a Lidcombe hotel.
Police will allege the pair made financial claims to the NSW government for victim compensation using the Sexual Assault Reporting Option (SARO) and funnelled the money into multiple bank accounts.
SARO is an online portal introduced by NSW Police, in 2022, which allows people to report sexual assaults without triggering a formal investigation.
It is designed to empower victims to report incidents to the police, anonymously if they choose, replacing a little-known and seldom-used form that victims previously filled out and submitted to police.
SARO reports can be used in applications for compensation from the government’s victim support service.
Court documents, obtained by The Herald, allege Briggs filed SARO reports using the real names and identity cards of multiple women to gain payments ranging from $5000 to $15,000.
Two dozen payments, and two dozen women, are named in the court documents, though The Herald will not identify them.
Their medicare cards, drivers’ licences, passports and photo identification cards were all allegedly used to verify the claims.
Briggs did not apply for release on bail when his matter was heard in court, and neither did Gribble, who did not appear on-screen.
The court heard Briggs was likely to be prosecuted by the Director of Public Prosecutions as the allegations against him are significantly more serious.
The DPP may also prosecute Gribble, the court heard.
The State Crime Command’s fraud investigators formed Strike Force Avranches as they investigated multiple suspicious compensation claims using SARO in August.
The two men received more than $218,000 in fraudulent payments, NSW Police alleged in a statement.
Briggs was charged with 25 counts of dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence, 19 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, and one count of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime with intent to conceal.
Meanwhile, Gribble was charged with recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime of more than $5000, dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence, and dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.
They will return to court in December.
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