A series of raids have been carried out in Queensland in relation to an alleged NDIS fraud syndicate, with buckets of gold and silver seized and a total of $5 million in assets frozen.
Investigators executed five search warrants at homes and businesses in Brisbane, Cairns and other locations in Far North Queensland last month, and seized $176,000 in cash, silver and gold, the Fraud Fusion Taskforce (FFT) said on Monday.
The joint investigation between the FFT and the Queensland Crime & Corruption Commission (QCCC) began in October last year after the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) identified a participant allegedly submitting NDIS claims for support and services that were not provided.
Those claims were then identified as allegedly being facilitated through an “illegitimate NDIS provider business established by, and under the control of, the participant”, the FFT said.
During the raids FFT investigators seized $94,000 cash alleged to be proceeds of crime, and gold and silver sovereign coins – estimated to be worth more than $82,000 – as well as a cryptocurrency wallet, electronic devices, documents, and cloud-based data.
The search warrants were carried out after the QCCC took a restraint action in relation to about $5.02 million in gold, silver and funds obtained by the syndicate, and the agency is now seeking to recover assets that were allegedly criminally acquired by the syndicate.
No charges have been laid.
An NDIA spokesperson said the agency was working with the FFT to investigate suspicious activity.
“We are strengthening our safeguards every day, including enhanced monitoring and payment controls to prevent, detect and disrupt criminal behaviour targeting the Scheme,” the spokesperson said.
“The NDIS exists to support Australians with significant and permanent disability to access the services they need – every action we take is about protecting the NDIS for those who rely on it today and for future generations.”
The raids come after the government promised to rein in the bloated $50 billion/year NDIS, and a parliamentary inquiry heard last week that an estimated 8% of the scheme is affected by fraud, and that it is being targeted by criminal gangs from the Middle East, Asia and South America.
Previous estimates have been much higher, and FFT sources said last year that the true scale of fraud was impossible to calculate and likely to be billions more than the official figures.
Header image: Left, one of the search warrants being executed. Right, buckets containing gold, silver and cash (FFT).
