NDIA employee charged over alleged $5 million NDIS fraud plot
By The Times of Australia
An Adelaide NDIA employee has been charged over what federal police describe as an alleged plan to rip more than $5 million from the National Disability Insurance Scheme, after investigators raided homes and a business across the city on Wednesday.
The 48-year-old woman was arrested after the Australian Federal Police, South Australia Police, NDIA investigators and other agencies executed a search warrant at a home in Blakeview, in Adelaide’s north. AFP officers say electronic devices were seized there, including material linked to online remote account data.
Further warrants were also carried out at a home in Mawson Lakes and at a business in Prospect, where more electronic devices were taken for forensic examination.
The case is serious not just because of the dollar figure. Police allege the woman worked inside the agency that holds some of the most sensitive personal records in the country, and that she used that access without authority.
According to the AFP, the investigation began in March after the NDIA detected unauthorised access to protected records belonging to NDIS participants. Investigators allege the woman accessed more than 40 participant records, both at work and outside work hours.
The NDIA further alleges she submitted fraudulent claims against plans belonging to members of her own family who were NDIS participants, including claims for supports and services that were not provided.
Investigators allege the woman received more than $53,000 from a local NDIA provider as part of the broader alleged $5 million plot. Police also allege she failed to declare conflicts of interest involving her connection to an NDIA business and a relative’s employment in that business.
The woman has been charged with disclosing protected agency information without authorisation, abusing public office to dishonestly obtain a benefit, attempting to forge false documents intended to cause a Commonwealth loss, and dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage for another person.
The most serious of those offences carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
She has been bailed and is due to face Adelaide Magistrates Court on August 20. Police say the investigation is still running and further charges are expected.
AFP Detective Inspector Aidan Milner said Commonwealth program fraud remained a key target for investigators.
“Fraud of Commonwealth programs is an area of key focus for the AFP and its partners,” he said.
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner Louise Glanville said the public expected disability funds to be spent properly, not siphoned off through corrupt or deceptive conduct.
At street level, that is the hard edge of this case. The NDIS is not spare money sitting in a government ledger. It is meant to pay for care, transport, therapy, equipment and support for people who often have no room for delay or gamesmanship. When police allege a fraud plot inside that system, the alleged victims are not just taxpayers. They are participants whose records, plans and trust sit at the centre of the scheme.
The Fraud Fusion Taskforce, which is handling the matter, brings together 25 agencies and is co-led by the NDIA and Services Australia. Its brief is to chase high-risk criminal activity targeting government programs, especially programs meant for people who need support most.
The woman has not been found guilty of any offence. The allegations will now move through the courts.
Sources: Australian Federal Police media release, ABC News reporting.