Company's director also pleaded guilty for failing to prevent the act
A Victorian company was recently sentenced in the Warrnambool magistrates' court
of fraudulently obtaining payments after pleading guilty. The director was also fined without conviction after admitting his failure to prevent it.
The company’s business involved training horses. According to court records, the company’s director “had a claim accepted” in 2020 after a work injury when a horse fell onto him. Initially, he wasn't entitled to weekly payments because he was receiving director’s fees instead of a salary.
Later on, one of the company’s employees submitted payslips and a “pay as you go” (PAYG) summary showing $68,304 in gross payments, “falsely claiming” the director’s income had changed from director's fees to weekly wages even before the injury.
Said documents were accepted, resulting in $66,896 being paid to the company based on false information from the company. When the director failed to provide the requested bank account statements, WorkSafe launched an investigation and found no evidence of any wage payments matching the payslips.
In a media release, WorkSafe’s insurance business unit executive director Roger Arnold warned those trying to defraud the workers' compensation scheme.
"This type of behaviour undermines the scheme's ability to provide care and support to injured workers,” Arnold said.
"WorkSafe won't hesitate to prosecute anyone who tries to cheat the system, including those providing false records in order to obtain money they’re not entitled to,” Arnold added.
Meanwhile, the employee who submitted the payslips and the PAYG summary that contained false information is set to appear in court in April 2022.
