Alleged Centrelink fraudster Athena Murray hauled back to Tasmania from Queensland

A Tasmanian woman facing multiple fraud charges after being impossible to locate, despite posting to social media regularly has fronted a Hobart court. SEE LATEST >>

Tasmanian woman Athena Murray, a.k.a. Brown, aged in her late 50s, has been extradited from Cairns to seven fraud-type charges. Picture: Instagram

An alleged fraudster facing a raft of Commonwealth charges has been granted bail after being extradited from North Queensland.

Athena Murray, aka Brown, had been remanded in custody and sought an adjournment without plea in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Tuesday, successfully making an application for bail before Magistrate Reg Marron.

Ms Murray, aged in her late fifties, was arrested in Cairns on January 5 and faces seven Commonwealth charges, including two counts each of obtaining financial advantage by deception and making false statement in application, and single counts of wilfully making a false statement, making a false statement, and dishonestly influencing a public official.

It’s understood the charges relate to alleged Centrelink fraud and span back at least a decade.

The Mercury previously reported that the frauds were alleged to have occurred at Scamander, Sheffield, Moonah, Glenorchy, Devonport, Hobart and Airlie Beach in Queensland.

A warrant was sought for Ms Murray’s arrest in 2019 when she could not be located by authorities.

She has posted to social media from various locations around the country since the alleged frauds were said to have occurred.

The matter was adjourned until March 23, when she will again appear in the Hobart Magistrates Court.

Alleged Centrelink fraudster hauled back to Tasmania

A Tasmanian woman extradited from North Queensland will face court in Hobart on Monday on a raft of fraud charges previously discontinued due to inability to locate her.

Athena Murray, aka Brown, who is aged in her late fifties, was arrested in Cairns on a Tasmanian-issued warrant on January 5.

She faces seven Commonwealth charges, including two counts each of obtaining financial advantage by deception and making false statement in application, and single counts of wilfully making a false statement, making a false statement, and dishonestly influencing a public official.

She was remanded in custody and in a later appearance at Cairns Magistrates Court she was ordered to be extradited back to the island state.

The Mercury understands the charges relate to alleged Centrelink fraud, with the charges spanning back at least a decade.

The Mercury previously reported the frauds are alleged to have occurred in Scamander, Sheffield, Moonah, Glenorchy, Devonport, Hobart and Airlie Beach in Queensland.

In 2019, a warrant was sought for Ms Murray’s arrest after she could not be located via regular means.

“It appears she is not resident at any address known to Centrelink … a person purporting to be Ms Murray has been in contact several times giving addresses to various caravan parks in Australia,” a prosecutor previously told Hobart Magistrates Court.

Ms Murray has posted to social media from various locations around Australia since the alleged frauds were said to have occurred.

In June 2019, she was tagged in a post on Lord Howe Island. On October 2 last year, she posted to Instagram from a café in Darwin. She posted to Facebook from Darwin’s Mindil Beach on September 30 last year.

In a Facebook comment on February 15, 2021, she said she was “still in FNQ” (Far North Queensland).

Ms Murray’s parents live in Sheffield, according to an April 2021 reported by Papua New Guinea news service PNGi. PNGi reported Ms Murray’s parents formerly had business interests in the Pacific nation.