Former Labor MP Craig Thomson pleads guilty to fraud charges
Former federal Labor MP Craig Thomson is facing up to 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to offences relating to fraudulent applications for natural disaster and Covid-19 payments.
Former federal Labor MP Craig Thomson has pleaded guilty to offences relating to fraudulent applications for natural disaster and Covid-19 pandemic government relief, eight years after he was found guilty of using union money on sex workers and fine dining.
The 59-year-old is facing a prison sentence of up to 10 years after appeared at Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday morning ahead of a four day hearing in which he was initially set to defend the charges.
In 2022 Thomson was charged with two counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, publishing misleading material to obtain advantage and making a false document to obtain financial advantage.
He has pleaded guilty to two counts of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception, and one count of publish false misleading material to obtain advantage has been withdrawn.
A fourth count of make false document to obtain financial advantage will be dealt with at a later date.
At the time of his arrest, police said Thomson was charged after he allegedly made fraudulent applications for the Small Business Covid-19 Support grant and the Covid-19 Small Business Hardship grant.
“(Thomson) also allegedly submitted a fraudulent application for JobSaver payments of $3000 a fortnight, which was not approved or paid,” police said in a statement.
“Further, the man allegedly fraudulently signed and submitted a document for the purpose of obtaining a reduction in rent,” they said.
Sources have told The Australian police will be seeking for a custodial sentence after Thomson was spared a jail term in 2014 after he was found guilty of using Health Services Union money on prostitutes and fine dining during his time as national secretary.
In August, Thomson pleaded guilty to breaching apprehended violence orders protecting his former wife.
Thomson did not respond to requests for comment.
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