‘Should never have happened’: Coalition demands answers following alleged multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud
Immigration detainees awaiting deportation in Melbourne are among those accused of masterminding an $8 million Medicare fraud targeting vulnerable Australians.
A network of alleged criminals — including men awaiting deportation in immigration detention — is accused of defrauding taxpayers of at least $8 million by impersonating sick Australians to steal their Medicare benefits.
Services Australia has confirmed multiple arrests have been made as part of an ongoing joint investigation with the Australian Federal Police into a massive Medicare rip-off, with work still underway determining how many victims have been impacted.
The alleged perpetrators are accused of tricking Australians into handing over personal information and log in details that were then used to ensure Medicare related rebates and payments were made into bank accounts controlled by the alleged criminals.
Services Australia general manager of fraud control and investigations Peter Timson told a senate estimates hearing in Canberra the agency had calculated the total value of the scam at “approximately $8m” though warned it was an “ongoing investigation”.
“Some of the funds have been recovered, have been frozen … in bank accounts,” he said.
News Corp last month revealed three people had so far been charged in relation to the alleged scam ring, including Manuele Ene and Navreet Singh, who are inmates at the Melbourne Immigration Detention Centre awaiting deportation.
Ene, the brother of jailed Comanchero bikie Richard Ene, is charged with proceeds of crimes offences.
Devices, including mobile phones, were seized during the operation.
Source have said stolen personal documents – including driving licences, health care cards and tenancy agreements – are part of a major inquiry into the scam.
Coalition acting home affairs spokesman James Paterson said it was “extraordinary” individuals in a government detention centre had the means to allegedly commit a “serious and ongoing fraud against everyday Australians”.
“The Coalition has campaigned relentlessly to give detention officials stronger powers to confiscate devices within these centres,” he said.
“Yet under this government vulnerable Australians have been victims of an $8m scam that should never have been allowed to happen.”
Mr Paterson said Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke must “come out of hiding” and “explain how this was allowed to happen and what actions the government will take to ensure it cannot happen again”.
Services Australia deputy chief executive officer of the payments and integrity group Chris Birrer told estimates the fraud entailed the alleged offenders undertaking a “range” of activities.
“They were impersonating customers to the agency and impersonating the agency to medical providers in order to essentially trick people into providing their log on details in order to access the systems to have payments made into bank accounts that they controlled,” he said.
“During the search warrant execution at the immigration detention facility, there was a number of devices that were recovered which we suspect were involved in the offending.”
Mr Birrer said the cost of the fraud ultimately fell broadly on taxpayers, but acknowledged there were serious impacts on the individual victims.
“One thing that we’re very aware of in the agency in terms of scams and fraud activity … is that what we see is that people have their identities impersonated, accounts accessed, and that creates a range of inconveniences and other issues for them and so … it does have an impact on individuals in terms of how they can interact with the agency as well as of course financial consequences for the taxpayer,” he said.
Mr Birrer said Services Australia was continually undertaking measures to improve the security of services like the MyGov online portal.
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Originally published as ‘Should never have happened’: Coalition demands answers following alleged multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud
