By Perry Duffin
Detectives have arrested seven people over an alleged billion-dollar scam in which a crime syndicate coached former young offenders, inmates and school students to file false sex abuse claims with the NSW government.
A third of the population of one NSW prison has submitted claims, and multiple law firms are now under investigation for their roles in thousands of “strikingly similar” complaints.
An alleged “claims farmer” is arrested, accused of coaching people to file fake sex abuse claims with the government.Credit: NSW Police
NSW Police, on Thursday, alleged they had caught “claims farmers” behind about $1.3 billion worth of claims against the NSW Justice and Education departments, many of which were fake.
Heavily armed police from the anti-gang squad Raptor, along with detectives, executed warrants across Sydney and the Gold Coast, rounding up four men and three women.
Among them was 55-year-old Fotis Antonios from Girraween in Sydney’s west, who police allege was a chief of the syndicate.
“He’s made hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not a million dollars; he is the [alleged] syndicate head,” Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja told media on Thursday.
Police allege that Antonios and others were instructing complainants to pursue their claims against the NSW government departments under the National Redress Scheme, the police Sexual Assault Reporting Option and through civil litigation.
The accused allegedly approached former young offenders, inmates and public school students to file “fraudulent compensation claims for historical child sexual abuse while in care”, police said in a statement on Thursday.
The “farmers” would submit the claims and pocket at least $2200 for each.
Antonios allegedly had 100 claims pending alone, Arbinja said.
The alleged syndicate members then coached the “victims” through the process of fraudulent claims and used various Sydney law firms to enact the scam.
Seven people were arrested across Sydney and the Gold Coast in connection with the alleged scam.Credit: NSW Police
The law firms and the fake victims would split the remainder of the payouts, Arbinja said.
Nearly 4000 claims have been identified so far, Arbinja said, and many were “strikingly similar”.
Multiple law firms are being investigated for links or knowledge of the scam, and one has been raided by police already.
The alleged fraudsters stood to make $3.75 million if the claims were paid out, but police swooped before the claims could be processed.
The profits were known as “bum money” within the alleged syndicates, and detectives suspect a “significant portion” of the $1.3 billion of the claims made were fake.
Queensland Police arrested a 23-year-old man in Mermaid Beach. Arbinja said he is the second alleged chief of the syndicate.
One-third of all inmates in Cooma’s minimum security prison have lodged claims related to historic child abuse, Arbinja said, and police were investigating them thoroughly.
Police said they hoped the arrests and conversations with government now under way would “stop the bleeding”.
“NSW Police support legitimate victims; they should be compensated. The problem is the system is porous and needs to be strengthened,” Arbinja said.
“Unfortunately, in this instance it’s been exploited by an organised criminal network.”
Antonios faced Parramatta Local Court on Thursday on 21 charges, including fraud, misleading documents and inciting others to do the same.
Also among the arrests were a woman in Granville, aged 53, a man and woman in Pendle Hill, aged 32 and 35, a man in Gladesville, 42, and a woman in Horsley, 52.
All are expected to face court next month.
Arbinja said the arrests so far were “just the tip of the iceberg”.
“None of the claimants we looked at wanted police intervention – none. All wanted to go down the civil route,” he said.
“The system is porous and the threshold to put a claim in is low. It was done that way for a reason, with good intentions and in good faith because legitimate victims deserve compensation, criminals don’t.”
Lifeline 13 11 14
National Sexual Assault Counselling Service 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.