Blog Archive May 2009
Criminals infiltrate security industry
Geesche Jacobsen and Dylan Welch Brisbane Times Website
May 24, 2009THE private security industry throughout Australia has been infiltrated by criminals who deal in drugs, rort the tax and welfare system, and intimidate competitors for a greater share of the market.
An 18-month investigation by the Australian Crime Commission had found the industry was plagued by serious issues that were outside the reach of normal law enforcement, commission chief executive John Lawler said.
A detailed report on the industry, due to be released to the commission's board next month, showed problems were prevalent "right across the industry" and in every state and territory, he said.
Problems included significant organised crime links, the trade in illicit commodities such as drugs and drug-making chemicals, organised theft from the businesses that security companies are paid to protect, and money laundering.
Many hid the money through international trade and legitimate business links, Mr Lawler said.
Elements of the industry were engaged in tax evasion or welfare fraud and failed to comply with their requirements under workers' compensation, superannuation and workplace regulations. Some employed staff without the correct visas; others circumvented or manipulated industry regulations.
Legitimate businesses had found it difficult to compete against operators who breached the law by paying cash to their workers, or paying below-award wages, Australian Security Industry Association chief Bryan de Caires said.
The association, which represents about half the industry, had conducted audits and expelled members who failed to comply.
"If someone is not doing the right thing, we want them to be caught out," Mr de Caires said.
About 5000 security businesses operate across Australia.
In NSW six years ago a move to fingerprint all applicants for licences flushed out criminals from the industry. In 2007, when the Security Industry Register reclassified the licences and increased the checks on applicants, more than 4650 failed to renew their licences.
About 2000 of those were holders of class 1 licences, which are required for work as a doorman at a licensed venue.
The Australian Crime Commission investigation had looked extensively into the business links of those operating in the industry, Mr Lawler said.
"There is nothing new in one sense about following the money," he said. "But what we are seeing is a coalescing of legitimate and illegitimate. The real sophistication comes in understanding what's legitimate and what's illegitimate."
The commission's inquiry has generated more than 400 reports about individuals, companies and the methodology employed by criminals in the industry.
They have been sent to state and federal police, and departments such as the Tax Office, Centrelink and others, who would act on the intelligence.
In July the Council of Australian Governments agreed to introduce national regulation and licensing of the industry to improve probity and regulatory standards by next year.
The commission said the "vast majority of companies and individuals" in the industry were legitimate.
Elderly man defrauds Centrelink of $50,000
Amelia Bentley
May 21, 2009 - 2:59PM Brisbane Times 21 May 2009An elderly Brisbane man will spend the next eight months in jail for cheating Centrelink out of $50,000 to support his lifestyle of drinking and betting on horses.
Mervyn Thomas Guilk, 68, claimed $49,000 in unemployment and aged-pension benefits for nearly five years between June 2002 and March 2007 when he was employed and earning a wage, Brisbane District Court was told.
In court today the divorced father of five pleaded guilty to one charge of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage from Centrelink.
Commonwealth prosecutor Deborah Mayall said Guilk's crime was uncovered when Centrelink cross-checked earnings declarations he had supplied to them with records of his wages held by the Australian Tax Office.
The figures did not match and when police interviewed him he immediately admitted his crime, saying he used the cash to fund drinking and gambling.
"Unlike other cases of welfare fraud, he did not use the money for a genuine need such as supporting his family," Ms Mayall said.
Guilk's defence lawyer said his client began claiming a benefit legitimately when he was jobless but failed to notify Centrelink when he obtained work as a labourer.
"The money just kept coming in (from Centrelink) ... it was just too easy to go down to the hotel and spend it on alcohol and gambling on the horses," he said.
Judge Leanne Clare SC said Guilk had fleeced "a lot of money from the public purse" and thrown it away on his chosen lifestyle.
She acknowledged Guilk had started re-paying the money but officially ordered him to repay the $43,697.36 still owing.
She said Centrelink fraud threatened the welfare system which was in place to help "those who really need it."
Judge Clare sentenced Guilk to two years' jail to be suspended after eight months.
Upon his release he will enter a good behaviour bond of three years.
Elderly man defrauds Centrelink of $50,000
Amelia Bentley
May 21, 2009 - 2:59PM Brisbane Times 21 May 2009An elderly Brisbane man will spend the next eight months in jail for cheating Centrelink out of $50,000 to support his lifestyle of drinking and betting on horses.
Mervyn Thomas Guilk, 68, claimed $49,000 in unemployment and aged-pension benefits for nearly five years between June 2002 and March 2007 when he was employed and earning a wage, Brisbane District Court was told.
In court today the divorced father of five pleaded guilty to one charge of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage from Centrelink.
Commonwealth prosecutor Deborah Mayall said Guilk's crime was uncovered when Centrelink cross-checked earnings declarations he had supplied to them with records of his wages held by the Australian Tax Office.
The figures did not match and when police interviewed him he immediately admitted his crime, saying he used the cash to fund drinking and gambling.
"Unlike other cases of welfare fraud, he did not use the money for a genuine need such as supporting his family," Ms Mayall said.
Guilk's defence lawyer said his client began claiming a benefit legitimately when he was jobless but failed to notify Centrelink when he obtained work as a labourer.
"The money just kept coming in (from Centrelink) ... it was just too easy to go down to the hotel and spend it on alcohol and gambling on the horses," he said.
Judge Leanne Clare SC said Guilk had fleeced "a lot of money from the public purse" and thrown it away on his chosen lifestyle.
She acknowledged Guilk had started re-paying the money but officially ordered him to repay the $43,697.36 still owing.
She said Centrelink fraud threatened the welfare system which was in place to help "those who really need it."
Judge Clare sentenced Guilk to two years' jail to be suspended after eight months.
Upon his release he will enter a good behaviour bond of three years.
A third of the ATO's Investigators are not qualified!
100 tax officers not qualified: audit
Posted Wed May 20, 2009 7:00pm AEST ABC Website
An audit of the Australian Tax Office has found that 100 fraud investigators do not have the necessary qualifications.
That represents one-third of its fraud investigation team.
The National Audit Office also found the ATO has done little to deter fraud and serious tax evasion and needs to keep better records of its investigations.
It says while the tax office has been effective at combating small-scale tax evasion, it needs to step up its efforts to prevent more serious fraud.
The ATO was given powers to enforce laws making it illegal for criminals to profit from their crimes three years ago but it has not used them, the audit said.
AFP swoop on two women over fake passport claims
May 04, 2009 12:00am
A POST office clerk and a suburban mother allegedly masterminded a fake passport racket to bring illegal immigrants into Australia.
The false passports created at Fairfield Post Office were used by a people-smuggling ring to fly illegal immigrants directly into the country, police claimed.
Postal worker Lara Triglia and her alleged accomplice Samira Al Kanani, 44, faced Parramatta Bail Court yesterday. The women were dramatically arrested on Saturday night after police claimed their role in the racket was uncovered by a damning paper trail. Lara Triglia, an unassuming 35-year-old clerk, was arrested in the middle of the night at the home she shares with her father. Alleged accomplice Al Kanani, of Mt Druitt, was arrested by the AFP at Sydney airport as she tried to board a flight out of the country. An investigation into the women began in April, after officials discovered people smugglers were using "corrupt Australia Post staff" to approve fraudulent passports and then going overseas to help immigrants skip the queue.
It is not known how the two met but the AFP will allege Triglia, whose job as an interviewing officer was to meet applicants and check that photos and documents matched up, signed off on papers linked to Al Kanani and her family. The fake applications allegedly included three that had Australian names but photographs of "unknown citizens".
Investigators checked a driver's licence photograph from the RTA and found the name on one passport and its accompanying photograph were of two different people. Phone records revealed the mobile number belonged to yet another person - Al Kanani's son. The passport, in the name of an Australian citizen, was never used to fly out - just to fly in. Another passport application was made in the name of Al Kanani's second son.
Yesterday the court was told investigators then set up a sting, ordering the Australian Passport Office to issue the fake papers. When Al Kanani's daughter came to collect her "brother's passport" police tracked her to her car, where Al Kanani was sitting. Police, who watched her movements for two weeks, swooped when Al Kanani allegedly tried to board a plane with the fake passport on Saturday night. Yesterday Al Kanani appeared over video-link at Parramatta Bail Court in tears.
Despite her dramatic arrest only hours earlier, Triglia calmly faced the court.
More passports that Triglia ticked off are being analysed.
Triglia, who faces three charges of making a false statement on an Australian travel document, was granted bail.
Al Kanini faces three charges. She was refused bail.
Both will appear at Central Local Court on May 6.
Brisbane Council's PI spend up May 2009
Detectives spend $14,000 each month investigating council staff
Tony Moore Brisbane Times
May 6, 2009 - 5:46AMBrisbane City Council is spending $14,500 each month having private detectives investigate its staff.
In the five months from December 2008 and April 2009, Brisbane City Council's Ethical Standards Unit spent more than $72,200 investigating allegations raised against its employees.
The allegations included fraud, misuse of council equipment and complaints about the allocation of council contracts.
In one case Brisbane City Council spent $137,961 after the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) ordered Brisbane City Council to employ private detective firms.
Brisbane City Council engages the CMC whenever allegations of internal fraud or misconduct are raised, a council spokesperson said.
Four firms were used between December 2008 and April 2009.
In May 2008 the CMC asked Brisbane City Council to have allegations against two council staff and a contractor investigated.
At the time Lord Mayor Campbell Newman estimated the inquiry would take three weeks, but by March 2009 no further information was given to councillors, except advice a cheque for $90,000 had been paid to Price Waterhouse Coopers.
Questions were asked in yesterday's Finance Committee meeting about the state of that inquiry.
According to Brisbane City Council, the two council employers have since been cleared of any wrong doing and the contractor is now being investigated by the CMC.
"The $90,000 cheque relates to a CMC investigation into allegations of official misconduct against two council officers and a council contractor," a council spokesman said.
"The total cost of this investigation has been $137,961.00. Council is not expecting any more costs on top of this," he said.
"The allegations of official misconduct against the two council officers were ruled to be without foundation, however the CMC investigation into the contractor is still ongoing."
The council said $9388.60 of the $72,200 was for an investigation into one allegation of fraud, but would not outline what matters the other investigations were examining.
A council spokesman said it was wrong for Brisbane City Council to investigate allegations against its own staff.
However Council Opposition Leader Cr Shayne Sutton said Brisbane City Council refused to answer any questions about the investigations.
"These are investigations that are being conducted by Council's Ethical Standards Unit and given the importance of Council integrity and the amount of money being spent, I think there is an onus on the council administration to provide further detail about the investigations," Cr Sutton said.
She said she was not aware of the outcomes of any of the investigations, nor whether council staff had been cleared or charged.
"If there has not been a single outcome where someone has been charged, are we being overly officious?" she said.
"Or, if people are being charged all the time, what is going wrong?"
A mile stone at the Academy. 1000th On Line Australian Investigation Student Mile Stone
1000th On Line Australian Investigation Student Mile Stone
On May 1st 2009 the Australian Security Academy enrolled the 1000th on line Investigation student in one of it's 19 Investigation and compliance courses. Mike Evans said " I am really pleased to have achieved this mile stone for the benefit of Investigation Professional Development in the Australian Invesigation Industry. Our on line program has only been running sisnce 2007, although the Academy has been training onvestigators since 2001. I am proud that the owners operators and controllers of some of Australia's leading and emerging investigation agencies have chosen the Academy for Nationally Recognised Investigation and Compliance Qualifications. The Certificate III Investigative Services progarm is approved by every state and territory licensing authority and the Academy has now implemented the new PRS07 Investigation Qualification for Queensland and Tasmania. For training in Investigation in Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) the old PRS 04 Qualification will remain in place until 2010."To become a Licensed Private Investigator or Inquiry Agent check the Australian Security Academy's State by State button for information on Licensing in your state.
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