Police have been called in to hunt out fraudulent claims for COVID-19 business grants after thousands of people had their regular payments from Service NSW halted without notice.
Key points:
- A strike force has been set up to investigate claims for business grants
- $20 million in fraud has already been uncovered
- The grant program was suspended for several weeks while anomalies were investigated
Small businesses, sole traders and not-for-profit companies whose revenue fell by 30 per cent or more during the lockdown qualified for a $1,500 fortnightly payment under a micro business grant.
But Service NSW last month put the scheme on hold after more than $20 million of fraud was identified.
“We were forced to pause the 2021 COVID-19 micro-business grant payments temporarily while the anomalies in some applications were investigated,” chief executive of Service NSW Damon Rees said.
The state government agency has uncovered $15.9 million in fraudulent applications — accounting for a share of 2.6 per cent of all applications — and stopped the payment of another $4.6 million worth of grants.
A joint strike force between NSW Police and Service NSW has been set up to screen all applications for suspected fraud.
“State Crime Command will be using a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence system designed to mass analyse and cross-reference metadata,” Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith of NSW Police said.
Service NSW on Monday apologised for pausing thousands of grant payments, inconveniencing many genuine claimants.
Taxi driver David Stewart from Coolangatta received his last grant payment on October 6 and was expecting to receive the next instalment in mid-November.
He was not told his payment would be delayed.
“It’s tough. When you have the rug pulled out from underneath you because of a lockdown, that’s what the support is all about, to keep a roof over your head, the lights on and food on your table,” he said.
“How do you do that if there’s no cash flow?”
He said work had virtually stopped overnight due to the lockdown, and has only begun to recover this week as restrictions on regional travel eased.
Ian Bellert, who runs a content marketing business in Thornleigh on Sydney’s upper north shore, said not being told of the payment freeze made it hard for him to budget.
“What the state government did really helped a lot of people, including me and my family,” he said.
“I just thought if they’re going to hold it back, just tell us.”
Recurring payments for existing applicants have now resumed.
Service NSW said around 7,500 claims were processed overnight with the majority of eligible claimants expected to receive their payments in the coming weeks.
