A Somalian immigrant mother-of-seven has been jailed for running a daycare and NDIS fraud ring in Melbourne that stole $800,000 from Australian taxpayers.
Istarlin Hassan, 55, was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail on Friday, added on to a previous sentences of seven years and seven months, with a combined non-parole period of five years and seven months.
Hassan had a child with a disability on an National Insurance Disability Scheme plan but misused NDIS funds to buy a house, and set up a provider business with another woman to intentionally steal money from the controversial scheme, which is being defrauded out of billions of dollars a year.
A Somalian immigrant mother-of-seven has been jailed for running an NDIS and daycare fraud ring in Melbourne that defrauded taxpayers out of $800,000.
Her Kurdish refugee hairdresser boyfriend was jailed for his role in the syndicate last year.
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After her arrest in 2020 she was then found to have fraudulently obtained government benefits related to the childcare subsidy rebate for her seven children over a four-year period, the court heard.
Investigators found she also “recruited members of her community to divert funds intended for vulnerable and disabled members of that same community to fund their own lifestyles”, which resulted in disabled NDIS participants not receiving the care intended for them.
“The 55-year-old acted as a teacher and consultant for other syndicate members looking to commit similar fraud offences against the Commonwealth. The syndicate defrauded taxpayers of a total of about $800,000,” police said.
Hassan’s Friday sentence was for one count of dishonestly causing a loss to the NDIA, two counts of dishonestly causing a loss to the NDIA by joint commission, and one count of do anything with intent of dishonestly obtaining a gain from the NDIA.
In October and November last year she was sentenced for one count of dishonestly causing a loss to Services Australia, four counts of dishonestly causing a loss to the Department of Education, two counts of aid, abet, counsel or procure another person to dishonestly cause a loss to the Department of Education and ne count of obtaining financial advantage by deception.
Hassan’s Kurdish refugee hairdresser boyfriend Matin Ibrahim, 36, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment in October with a two-year and eight-month non-parole period for his role in the scam.
The court heard he falsely claimed to be providing childcare to Hassan’s children in order to obtain Family Day Care payments from the government, and helped two other people commit the same offences.
The other female scammers aged 57, 38 and 37 were sentenced in August 2021 to 12 months’ jail, a 12-month community corrections order with 150 hours community service, and 12 months’ jail respectively.
The sentences come amid growing public anger at NDIS fraud and waste, with the scheme now costing taxpayers $50 billion a year, more than Medicare, while criminal syndicates are believed to be stealing at least $8 billion from the scheme, although the true scale of fraud could be much higher.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said earlier this month she would demand a Senate inquiry into the scheme, following a video by independent journalists Drew Pavlou and Pete Zogoulas examining alleged NDIS fraud carried out by dodgy immigrant providers in Sydney’s west.
The pair allegedly exposed banned NDIS businesses continuing to operate under new names, links to money laundering from Iraq and the illegal tobacco trade, and providers overcharging for services.
Header image: Left, right, Hassan and Ibrahim being arrests (AFP).
