An Adelaide NDIS provider director has been arrested at the airport over an alleged $5 million fraud scheme.
A 38-year-old Adelaide man has become the second person charged over an alleged $5 million NDIS fraud scheme after he was arrested at the airport before an boarded an international flight.
Police allege he obtained protected participant records from a National Disability Insurance Agency employee and used the information to lodge thousands of NDIS claims worth about $5 million.
He was charged with dealing with proceeds of crime and soliciting protected NDIS participant information.
The man is the second person charged in the investigation, launched in March after the NDIA detected unauthorised access to participant records.
A 48-year-old woman who was a NDIA employee was charged in June after allegedly accessing the records of more than 40 participants and providing them to the man’s NDIS business for financial benefit.
She allegedly received more than $53,000 from the provider as part of the scheme.
Search warrants were executed at homes in Mawson Lakes and Blakeview and a Prospect business in June, with investigators seizing several electronic devices.
AFP Detective Acting Inspector Aaron Mills said authorities would continue pursuing those who sought to exploit public funds.
“The dedication and collective efforts of the Fraud Fusion Taskforce are vital to detect and stop those who attempt to rip off public funds,” he said.
“We will continue to identify, investigate, and bring before the courts anyone who attempts to engage in this type of unlawful activity and flout, or attempt to evade, the law.”
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner Louise Glanville said providers who misused NDIS funding undermined trust in the scheme.
“Providers who seek to misuse NDIS funding undermine trust in the disability support system and put the integrity of the Scheme at risk,” she said.
The man was remanded in custody and is expected to face Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday.
The proceeds of crime charge carries a maximum 25-year prison term, while soliciting protected agency information carries a maximum penalty of two years.
The 48-year-old woman is due to return to court on August 20.
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