When you read about yet another scammer milking millions from the NDIS, two things are almost certain. First: the scammer will be from either Western Sydney or outer Western Melbourne. Secondly: there’ll be hijab somewhere in the arrest photos.
The latest case to land before the courts scores a bingo on both.
Ebtesam Ibrahim Hamoud Fahmy, who is a director of four disability service providers in western Sydney, was arrested after a series of raids orchestrated by a specialist NDIS fraud taskforce in July and August.
Fahmy, 57, sat in the dock this month in white and a hijab, an Arabic interpreter at her elbow, clutching at her heart while a jury’s verdict sank in. She had been found guilty of five counts of dishonesty intending to obtain a gain and one count of dealing in the proceeds of crime worth more than a million dollars. Over two-and-a-half years she fed more than a thousand false claims into the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
All up, she looted $2.2 million from the taxpayer. None of it was ever recovered.
The light-fingered hijabi might not have ever bothered to learn English, but rat cunning is clearly her forte.
Barrister for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher O’Donnell, said Fahmy’s crimes spanned more than two-and-a-half years and involved “significant planning, premeditation and sophistication”.
Fahmy was a director of Quick Health and Care Services, just one of the incredible thousand-plus NDIS providers clustered in Western Sydney: the densest concentration in the country. She caused another person to be listed as director of a second outfit, Smart and Incredible, without their knowledge. Both companies billed for services that were never provided. The money landed in four bank accounts she controlled. Two properties and two bank accounts have been restrained. An AFP operation is still chasing the rest.
She is the 20th person imprisoned since the Fraud Fusion Taskforce was stood up in November 2022. Twenty. Combined sentences now exceed 74 years. That is not a rounding error – the system is being looted in industrial quantities.
NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister rightly states: “There is nothing lower than trying to steal money from a disabled person.” So, do something about the gigantic scam your party created.
The scale of the fraud is astonishing: nearly one-tenth of a scheme now costing north of $50 billion a year. That’s at least $4 billion filling the pockets of imported scammers annually. Courts have ordered the return of a few million. Taskforce seizures of cars, gold, silver and houses make for good photographs, but do not make a dent in the loot.
The names say it all:
• Wafaa Shamari, a Sydney mum of two, drove a white Porsche, ran a family syndicate that ripped off millions. Six years jail. Father, two brothers and sister all convicted with her.
• Mohammad Ali Mahmoud Sallam, another Sydney family operation. Six years five months. Bought half a kilo of gold, 40kg of silver and crypto with money meant for people with disability. Wife and brother also jailed.
• Noah Adel and Ahmed Moussa syndicate, gold, luxury watches, cars, cash and crypto seized in Western Sydney raids […]
All recently arrived immigrants from the Middle East ripping off the country that gave them a second chance at life.
Notice the pattern and you’re a bigot. Ignore it and you’re a mug.
