It follows an investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) after suspicions were raised by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, including the enrolment of more than 1,600 children over a one-month period in 2017 by two family day care providers.
It was alleged in court that a person referred to as ‘XY’, was a key facilitator in a scheme to purchase two pre-existing family day care services and falsely claim child care benefits on their behalf.
To distance themselves from the fraud, ‘front people’ were allegedly used for the companies running the service, including the 36-year-old woman from Merrylands, who was arrested in August 2017, and allegedly conducted fraudulent banking transactions in exchange for cash payments.
She pleaded guilty to one count of recklessly deal with proceeds of crime, money or property worth $1 million or more and this month was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years.
XY was arrested by police in 2018 and pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth, and earlier this month was also sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and six months.
A number of other court proceedings are continuing in relation to the investigation.
Jailed over claim fraud
A MERRYLANDS woman is one of two people jailed this month in relation to a fraudulent family day care scheme allegedly involving claims of more than $9.2 million.
