A middle-aged mum at the centre of a $2.2 million \u00adNational Disability Insurance Scheme rort, cried and clutched at her heart as the court heard she had made more than 1000 false claims driven by \u201cgreed\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ebtesam Ibrahim Hamoud Fahmy, 57, who is married with two teenage children, was found guilty earlier this year by a jury, of five counts of dishonesty intending to obtain a gain and one count of dealing in indictable crime proceeds of crime with a value of more than $1 million.<\/p>\n
The NSW District Court at the Downing Centre, Sydney, heard how two NDIS businesses \u2013 one of which Fahmy was a director \u2013 claimed for services that were never provided and that she controlled four bank accounts where the money was deposited.<\/p>\n
Fahmy, who sat in the dock in a white outfit and hijab with an Arabic interpreter, looked stricken and at one point wagged her finger in disbelief at a group of female supporters, who were also in tears.<\/p>\n
Barrister for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher O\u2019Donnell, said Fahmy\u2019s crimes spanned more than two-and-a-half years and involved \u201csignificant planning, premeditation and sophistication\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said she was a director of one company called Quick Health and Care Services and caused another person to be the director of another company, called Smart and Incredible, without their knowledge. Both companies made claims and the funds were deposited into four bank accounts controlled by Fahmy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were 1000 occurrences plus of false claims being submitted by the offender, which led to the payment of monies she was not entitled to and nor were the companies she used to make those claims,\u201d Mr O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not driven by need, but greed.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said her contrition and remorse were \u201cnon existent\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the Commonwealth would be seeking reparations.<\/p>\n
The court heard that Supreme Court proceedings, suspended due to the trial, would address proceeds of crime, including two properties, and that the Australian Taxation Office was also pursuing Fahmy. <\/p>\n
Defence barrister for the accused David Phillips said he was keen to avoid a \u201ccrushing\u201d jail sentence and said Fahmy had no previous convictions and a psychologist report found that she was unlikely to re-offend.<\/p>\n
Fahmy was arrested after 15 tip offs to authorities led to raids across Sydney in 2023, where mobile phones, computers, banking documents and boxes of paperwork were seized in search warrants across western Sydney.<\/p>\n
Fahmy was arrested and was charged by investigators under the then new Fraud Fusion Taskforce set up to tackle crime within the scheme.<\/p>\n
The $50 billion a year disability scheme loses at least $4 billion a year to fraudsters and wrongful claims and the government is slashing 160,000 people from the NDIS to keep it sustainable.<\/p>\n
Fahmy, who was originally given bail, has spent 98 days in custody so far.<\/p>\n
Judge Phillip Mahony deferred sentencing until September 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A middle-aged mum at the centre of a $2.2 million \u00adNational Disability Insurance Scheme rort, cried and 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