A criminal syndicate had been dismantled by detectives from the Financial Crime Squad, with four men charged who allegedly obtain $1.3 million dollars through the NSW Government grant applications.
Back in November 2021, fraudulent applications against NSW Government financial relief schemes that had relation to Covid-19 and natural disasters had sparked the formation of the Strike Force Sainsbery. The task force had been made up of detectives attached from the State Crime Command’s Financial Crimes Squad and all Sydney Metropolitan Regions, with Service NSW Fraud Response Unit assisting.
Since then, around 396 charges have been laid against 48 people. It was from these investigations had the alleged crime syndicate been discovered and with the assistance of Southwest Metropolitan Operations Support Group (OSG), search warrants at homes in Brighton Le Sands, Mascot, Roselands and Lakemba were executed.
Executing the search warrants from 6 am Wednesday 17th August, police seized cash, electronics, and documentation with further forensic examinations planned. Police had also searched businesses in Lakemba.
One 39-year-old man had been arrested at home in Mascot and was later charged with 30 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, along with 24 counts of attempt dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception.
The 39-year-old man later appeared at Bankstown Local Court and was refused bail.
Two men had been arrested and taken to Mascot Police Station. A 51-year-old man from Mascot and a 34-year-old man from Brighton Le Sands. Both men were charged, with the older man charged with 27 counts of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception.
The younger man was charged with 20 counts of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception, with an additional 8 counts of attempt of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception.
Police are warning those who have exploited state government financial support schemes have been identified. Photo: NSW Police Force/Facebook
The pair were granted strict conditional bail to appear later at Downing Centre Local Court on the 29th of August 2022.
At a worksite in Badgerys Creek, a 44-year-old man had been arrested and taken to Liverpool Police Station. There, he was charged with 7 counts of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception, with an additional count of knowingly deal with proceeds of crime and was later refused bail.
Through police investigations, the men have allegedly obtained $1.3 million dollars by exploiting several NSW Government Covid-19 support schemes through fraudulent applications.
Several grant applications estimating a further $459,000 were luckily prevented from being paid. The exploitation of government assistance prevents those who truly need it, a sentiment shared by Financial Crimes Squad Commander, Detective Acting Superintendent Con Galea.
“It’s abundantly clear to us that this was a well-equipped and organised syndicate, and we will allege they were enabled by professional facilitators including tax agents and accountants,” Galea said.
“We are working closely with our state and federal counterparts to identify criminal networks that are exploiting government revenue streams and will hold those responsible to account.”
“Those who continue to partake in this grubby behaviour should know that they’ve already been identified, and police will be paying them a visit shortly.”
City Hub reached out to NSW Police for further comment but was told they could not facilitate an interview at this time.
