An African former public servant has been arrested in Darwin after allegedly abusing her government position to defraud the National Disability Insurance Scheme out of up to $18 million.
The 39-year-old previously worked for the NT Department of Children and Families, and is the second territory government official to be charged over the alleged NDIS plot.
She was arrested in Lee Point on Tuesday by investigators from the Fraud Fusion Taskforce (FFT) assisted by Northern Territory Police, charged with five fraud and corruption offences, and granted bail to appear in Darwin Local Court on Wednesday.
Police allege the woman conspired with Nigerian man Kingsley Ebelebe, 47, who was arrested and charged in February, and used her position in the government department to refer vulnerable members of the community to an NDIS business they co-owned.
FFT investigators said she was linked to the alleged offending by forensic analysis of devices seized during the February raids on at a Lee Point home, a Durack business and a Yarrawonga business before Ebelebe was charged.
The pair allegedly claimed more than $28 million of NDIA funding through their NDIS business since 2019, and police allege $18 million of the claims have been identified as suspicious.
Department of Children and Families chief executive officer Brent Warren said the department had cooperated fully with the investigation, and confirmed the woman was no longer working there.
“The safety and wellbeing of children and families is our priority, and we take any matters that may compromise this extremely seriously,” Mr Warren said.
“As soon as we were aware of the allegations, we acted immediately. The former staff member has since resigned from the department.
“We have reviewed relevant referrals and decisions to ensure appropriate processes were followed and children and families received the support they needed. We have acted on the findings and strengthened our systems and practices for managing conflicts of interest and overseeing and approving supports for children in care with disability.”
The FFT was set up to combat rampant fraud in the $56 billion/year NDIS, and has made a series of high profile arrests in recent months.
FFT officials said last year the scale of fraud plaguing the NDIS was too vast to calculate, and was far larger than the previous estimate of $8 billion.
Header image: Left, right, the woman being arrested (FFT).
