Jennifer Pittorino
A West Footscray man has been ordered to pay back $48,367, following fraudulent behaviour.
The 35-year-old was caught working as a food delivery driver while receiving workers compensation payments.
He was sentenced without conviction in the Melbourne Magistrates Court last week after pleading guilty to one rolled-up charge of fraudulently obtaining payments.
He was placed on a 12-month Community Corrections Order with 120 hours of unpaid community work.
The court heard that the man began receiving workers compensation payments in April 2020 after he was struck by a forklift, fracturing his right foot.
However, a WorkSafe investigation found he secretly continued work as a gig economy driver, performing 238 deliveries while receiving compensation payments, including one on the day of his injury.
During this time, he submitted 20 certificates of capacity declaring he had not engaged in any form of employment.
In August 2021, after earning more than $21,000 as a delivery driver, his claim was terminated on grounds of fraud.
In the 2022-23 financial year, WorkSafe terminated 37 fraudulent claims with a combined projected lifetime cost to the workers compensation scheme of $20.64 million.
A further 25 people were prosecuted during the period on fraud-related matters, with restitution, fines and costs totalling almost $1 million.
WorkSafe insurance business unit executive dorector Roger Arnold said any offender scamming the workers compensation system would face serious consequences.
“People who think they can get away with defrauding the compensation scheme for their own personal gain should think again – we have zero tolerance for fraudsters,” he said.
“Fraud is proportionally very low within Victoria’s workers compensation scheme, but there’s always a shifty few who think they’ll get away with breaking the law.
“This shameful behaviour threatens the integrity of the entire scheme and is deeply offensive to injured workers who depend on it for their livelihood.”
