Fake reviews, a bewildered family: Following the threads of a candidate’s business empire
Since I started covering Bruce in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, voters and Labor insiders have raised questions with me about the Liberal Party’s promotion of its candidate Zahid Safi as a successful “small businessman”. So I decided to take a look for myself and headed for Merribrook Boulevard in Clyde.
The street has farmland to one side and a row of newly built, double-storey houses on the other.
I arrive at a grey concrete-rendered home on the quiet street and knock on the door, looking for answers about two businesses that are registered to this address, owned by Safi and his wife.
“I bought this property in January last year,” the man who answers the door tells me. “We do receive some mail, but I have no idea.”
The registered address for Infinite Community Supports, whose website hosts fake reviews.Credit: Charlotte Grieve
Intrigued, a woman walks over with a young girl at her feet, and says mail for these businesses comes often – every fortnight – but she puts it straight in the bin.
“Yes, we receive so many,” she says. “Has the business gone under?” the man asks. The last mail came as recently as a week ago, I’m told.
One of the businesses registered to this address is Willow Support Services, a Safi-owned NDIS provider. Its most recent social media post (from 2023) promotes a property as short-stay accommodation for people with disabilities.
When I visit the address, I find a weatherboard house at the back of a Sri Lankan restaurant off the highway in Narre Warren South. Veggie boxes on the front lawn grow chillies and herbs. After a few knocks, I’m greeted by a woman with a confused look on her face.
“Is this NDIS accommodation? Have you heard of Willow Support Services?” I ask after introducing myself as a journalist.
“No, no, no. People are living here. This is a house. This is a private residence,” the woman says before shutting the door.
The weatherboard house promoted by Willow Support Services as a disability support service location.Credit: Charlotte Grieve
The man behind the counter at the shop in front, serving steaming goat and fish curries, says his family has been living in the house for a “long time”, without being specific.
The Facebook post was published in September 2023. A Liberal source, who is not able to be named publicly, said it was “not reflective of the business’s current operations” but declined to answer detailed questions on the record.
Safi was promoted by the Liberal Party internally as an “extraordinary candidate for Bruce” when his preselection was announced.
“Zahid’s story of coming to Australia is nothing short of inspiring. He embodies resilience, determination and a deep commitment to his community,” a memo obtained by this masthead says.
Details of his business record in Australia have been minimal. I’ve seen screenshots where questions about his line of work have been hidden from his campaign’s page.
Documents filed with the corporate regulator show two of Safi’s businesses – NDIS provider Casey Care Services and training business Inspire Training Australia – have been deregistered as recently as March for unpaid fees.
Safi lists a third company, Skillset Training Institute – in which he owns no shares and holds no corporate role – on his LinkedIn profile as a place where he formerly worked as a manager. That company had its registration cancelled without the consent of the organisation in 2018.
One website for a business he is linked to is stacked with fake reviews, another uses stock images and broken links.
One example is Infinite Community Supports, an NDIS business. Corporate records show Safi was formerly the company’s sole shareholder, but he transferred ownership in 2021 to his wife, who now owns and directs the company.
When you click on the “SMS” button listed on the website’s “contact us” page, it connects to Safi’s current mobile number.
The Liberal source said Safi had no role in this company.
The website hosts reviews purporting to be “our client stories” to “see the difference we make” and “hear authentic success stories”.
One five-star review, by a man called “John Iswanto” from “St Kilda”, states: “The ICS team broke down my plan in a way that was easy to understand and helped me find the best providers to suit my unique needs.”
But a reverse image search shows the photo directly matches a LinkedIn account of a man named Javid Aliyev, a “project co-ordinator” in Azerbaijan and multiple other identities. The same face also appears on hundreds of webpages around the world under different names.
I contacted Aliyev about his photo appearing next to a review for Australian disability services, and he responded: “Good day to you. Please tell me more clearly, is anyone using my photo?”
But when I sent links and screenshots, I didn’t hear back.
Another four-star review on the same website by someone called “Numen Khan” from “Richmond, Melbourne” states: “They helped me set and achieve meaningful goals.”
A reverse image search shows the same photo used in LinkedIn profiles for multiple identities – including Alexandre Portier, a talent recruiter from Amsterdam, and John Rogart, a “marketing manager” from Wisconsin. I reached out to both, but never heard back.
The “Numen Khan” photo is similarly used in hundreds of websites around the world under different names.
Many of the pictures that appear under “our gallery” on one of Safi’s former NDIS businesses, Casey Care Services, trace back to stock image libraries and pop up in vast corners of the internet. Several links are broken.
I asked for an interview with Safi to clear up some of my questions, but he declined.
I drove to other addresses listed as the registered address for businesses, around the suburbs of Narre Warren, Endeavour Hills and Eumemmerring, but found empty homes or shopfronts for seemingly unrelated companies.
One home had a Zahid Safi corflute on a front lawn that was strewn with rubbish, bikes and clothing. Land title records show this property is owned by Safi’s wife.
The final stop on my tour of Safi’s businesses was the address listed on NDIS provider Willow Support Services’ website – in Casey Business Park, where an NDIS logo looms over a cluster of corporate offices, 43 kilometres south-east of Melbourne’s CBD.
I catch the lift to level two, and see a brand for the company on a board that has the names of at least a dozen other businesses that operate from the same office.
The nameplate at the office for Willow Support Services.Credit: Charlotte Grieve
When I ask to speak with someone from Willow Support Services, the receptionist tells me no one is in, and I can’t see the office, which is a single suite, because it’s behind a locked corridor.
When I ask for Zahid Safi, the receptionist says, “I haven’t seen him,” tapping on the phone. “No answer on the suite phone.”
The company’s website says it employs “50-plus professionals” with “10-plus years’ experience providing personalised NDIS support services”. The Liberal source explains this includes “past and present contractors”.
NDIS companies do often rely on a network of contractors working in the field or remotely.
My detailed questions included whether the Liberal Party was satisfied that Safi’s businesses were legitimate, why stock images, fake reviews, and outdated addresses had been used, and whether this raised any concerns for the party.
I also asked whether the Liberal Party was concerned about Safi’s apparent difficulties in managing his businesses. A party spokesperson released the following statement:
“The Liberal Party is very proud to support a candidate whose family fled the violent conflict in Afghanistan and chose to make Australia his home. Like many people in the electorate of Bruce, Zahid runs his own small business while raising a family. Like many small business owners, Zahid acknowledges that his administrative paperwork isn’t always up to date and has taken steps with his accountant to rectify.”
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