A 38 year old Melbourne resident been sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in jail for stealing a record $7.5 million from Medicare during a 6-month long fraud spree.
The Federal Government is committed to protecting Medicare for the benefit of all Australians. This outcome is a warning that severe punishments await criminals who try to take advantage of Medicare.
The fraudster lodged more than 1800 fraudulent Medicare claims on behalf of 147 Medicare customers and 20 doctors using compromised Medicare provider credentials.
They then weaved an intricate web to avoid detection, with claims lodged across hundreds of fraudulent bank accounts.
Their spree came to an end in December 2022 when they were arrested as part of a joint Taskforce Integrity operation (now Fraud Fusion Taskforce) led by Services Australia and the Australian Federal Police.
Minister for Government Services the Hon Bill Shorten MP said the scale of this alleged fraud operation was staggering.
“I’d like to congratulate and thank Services Australia and the AFP for their work on this matter,” Minister Shorten said.
“The numbers here speak for themselves. This person thought they were a step ahead and that they could take Australia’s healthcare institution for an $7.5 million ride.
“They thought they could throw the authorities off their scent by using hundreds of stolen identities and bogus bank accounts. They were wrong.
“The Commonwealth has robust capabilities to stop devious, organised criminals in their tracks.
“Through the Fraud Fusion Taskforce, Services Australia and the AFP are working in lockstep to ensure fraudsters are caught and dealt with.
“This outcome puts criminals on notice that serious crimes will attract serious time.
“The message is simple, if you think you can defraud our public institutions and get away with it, think again.”