Coronavirus: Queensland’s Covid teens charged with fraud after Victoria trip

Three Qld women who travelled to Melbourne and returned with COVID-19 after falsifying border declarations face up to five years jail.

Far right: Olivia Winnie Muranga, 19, is one of two Queensland teens who tested positive to coronavirus after a trip to Melbourne. Clockwise from top left: A school in Queensland is deep-cleaned, Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll; Queenslanders are tested for coronavirus; An African supermarket that was closed following a visit from Olivia Winnie Muranga.

Three Brisbane women who travelled to Melbourne and returned with coronavirus after falsifying their border crossing declarations face up to five years in prison after being charged by Queensland police.

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, police said the women – two aged 19 and one aged 21 – had been charged with providing false information on their Queensland border declarations.

Detectives from Task Force Sierra Linnet, a multi-agency team set up specifically in response to the virus, charged them with fraud and for breaching the Public Health Act by allegedly providing false or misleading documents.

The maximum penalty for the fraud charge is five years imprisonment, while the border declaration breaches can lead to fines of up to $13,345.

After earlier saying that one of the women had not co-operated with officers or health officials by telling them her whereabouts since returning from Melbourne, via Sydney, on July 21 police said she was now assisting them.

Authorities will now be able to create a more complete picture of where the girls have been and advise on venues that may need to be closed and who should be tested for the virus.

Detectives are also investigating the women over another incident, which they would not reveal.

“A criminal investigation is also being undertaken by Task Force Sierra Linnet investigators which is unrelated and not connected to the alleged travel to Victoria,” the police statement said.

All three women are currently in quarantine and are due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on September 28.

‘Deceitful, deceptive and criminal’

Earlier, Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll condemned the actions of the teens as “deceitful, deceptive and criminal”.

The two girls have been fined $4000 each after lying to authorities about where they had been, sparking fears of a second wave of the pandemic.

Police believe they attended an illegal party during their trip to Victoria before returning home.

The pair and another friend, who also went on the Melbourne trip, allegedly attended a party with 20 to 30 other people which was shut down by local police after reports of a disturbance.

Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said Victorian authorities took action against all in attendance, with each reveller accounted for.

Commissioner Carroll added: “They went to extraordinary lengths to be deceitful and deceptive and quite frankly criminal in their behaviour and that is what has put the community at risk.”

“We will not tolerate this behaviour at our borders which is putting people at risk.”

Cleaners at Parklands Christian College in Brisbane. Picture: Tara Croser

Although one of the 19-year-olds initially refused to provide details of her movements, one of her travelling companions, who has also tested positive for the virus, did provide a detailed list of her movements in Brisbane.

The third girl has not tested positive for the virus, however a sister of one of the 19-year-olds has.

As reported in The Australian today, it is understood the pair — one of whom was named as Olivia Winnie Muranga — are under investigation over an ­attempted theft of Bottega Veneta handbags at a high-end store in Melbourne, with suspicions they travelled interstate specifically to shoplift the goods and sell them.

Commissioner Gollschewski would not confirm if this claim is informing their investigation.

“I am not saying they are wanted by Victorian Police,” Commissioner Gollschewski said.

“We are working with Victorian authorities who are interested in their activities as to what they were doing and certainly any other activities to what they were doing in Queensland.

Anxious state records three new cases

The state, which is on tenterhooks since the girls tested positive on Wednesday, recorded three new cases on Thursday.

One of the cases was a traveller returning from the US who is in quarantine.

A Queensland couple who had visited Sydney and dined at a restaurant also tested positive, although they self-quarantined since travelling back to Brisbane.

The state has 11 active cases.

Chief health officer Jeannette Young said Queenslanders should avoid all unnecessary travel, particularly into Sydney and Victoria.

Anyone returning from those destinations must quarantine in a hotel.

Ms Young said the state, which had not recorded a case of community transmission since May, was entering an “increasingly risky time”.

 

Phones of teenagers being tracked

Queensland Police and health authorities had been forced to analyse the mobile phones of the two teenagers amid concerns they had not disclosed all their movements since returning from Victoria.

Two schools, a shopping centre and several restaurants and bars remain closed for cleaning after being visited by at least one of the pair since their July 21, with Queensland authorities expecting to carry out tests on hundreds of people today who were at those locations.

Two girls plus one of their immediate family members are the first three cases of the virus in the community since May.

Queensland authorities said they were deeply concerned the pair – who face criminal prosecution after lying about their prior travel to Melbourne on return to their home state – may have already begun to spread the virus through the community.

Sources told The Australian that they suspect at least one of the teenagers has withheld details of their movement since being back in Queensland. Authorities will re-question the pair today and are analysing their seized mobile phones for information.

The teens ­allegedly travelled to Melbourne this month on a shoplifting mission to steal luxury handbags.

As fears rose that the 19-year-old women had triggered Queensland’s first community-trans­mitted cluster in months — with a sister of one of the pair also testing positive late on Wednesday — it emerged they were wanted by Victoria Police.

It is understood the pair — one of whom was named as Olivia Winnie Muranga — are under investigation over an ­attempted theft of Bottega Veneta handbags at a high-end store in Melbourne, with suspicions they travelled interstate specifically to shoplift the goods and sell them.

The teenagers already face criminal charges in Queensland after they allegedly failed to declare their trip to Victoria and gave false personal details on state border declaration forms, after flying back to Brisbane via Sydney on July 21.

Health authorities have ordered the closure of two schools for cleaning, including Parklands Christian College, south of Brisbane, where one of the women is a cleaner and had worked for at least two days after her return.

Six restaurants and bars in Brisbane’s CBD and the outer southern suburbs have also been closed for cleaning, along with a small shopping centre, African grocery store and a medical practice visited by either of the women since returning.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was “absolutely furious” about the new COVID cases — the first detected outside quarantine since May — before announcing that all of Greater Sydney would now be locked out of Queensland.

“I’m absolutely furious this has happened, that these two people have gone to Victoria, have come back and have given misleading information to authorities,” she said.

A Peak Thai restaurant visited by one of the women has been closed for cleaning.

The move to extend restrictions on Victorians to those from Sydney, forcing travellers to Queensland from the “hotspots” into 14 days of hotel quarantine at their own expense, drew criticism from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who said she had been unaware of Queensland’s decision to declare Greater Sydney a COVID hotspot before it was announced.

“That’s a matter for the Queensland Premier, but it would have been nice if she told me.”

The move was also met with dis­appointment by tourism operators on the Gold Coast, who have been struggling to survive during the pandemic.

On Wednesday, Queensland authorities were preparing to expand testing for students and parents at the two schools where two of the three COVID-positive women worked, as well as tracking people who may have been in contact with them on their flights home and at the other places they visited in the past week.

Parklands Christian College in Park Ridge has been closed for cleaning. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jono Searle

Victorian and Queensland police declined to comment on the allegations that the two were wanted over alleged shoplifting in Melbourne but several sources have confirmed that they are. It is understood both failed to declare the visit to Melbourne on their return to Queensland, with one also allegedly providing a false date of birth and misspelling her name on the declaration form.

“They were under investigation by Victoria Police as suspects in shoplifting in Melbourne,” a source said. “After testing positive and being contacted by Queensland Health, they admitted to being in Sydney but didn’t admit to being in Melbourne, which came up in later checks.’’

The 19-year-olds were on the move for eight days with symptoms after arriving home on July 21, visiting Brisbane’s CBD and suburbs south of Brisbane.

 

Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski confirmed that the “circumstances” of the teenagers’ re-entry into Queensland was under criminal investigation. “Initial investigations indicate there were incorrect details on border declaration passes,” he said.

State Health Minister Steven Miles said the women, from Logan and the southern Brisbane suburb of Acacia Ridge, were the first cases “outside of quarantine since May”. He said anyone living on Brisbane’s south side, particularly in Logan and Springfield Lakes, should get tested and there would be rapid turnaround of results available in the region.

Additional reporting: Charlie Peel