A Villawood man is expected to appear before Sydney Downing Centre Local Court today (20 January 2026) charged for his alleged role in defrauding $3.5 million from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
An investigation by the Australian Government Fraud Fusion Taskforce (FFT) – encompassing members of the AFP, National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission – began in February 2025 after the ACIC detected anomalies with the man’s finances.
It will be alleged enquiries undertaken by FFT investigators later found the man to be involved in laundering $3.5 million in cash defrauded from the NDIS.
The 31-year-old director of a NDIS provider is accused of withdrawing significant amounts of cash from various bank accounts and different banks repeatedly between 2022 and 2025 to aid himself and others in the laundering of suspected proceeds of crime.
It will be alleged the money was derived from fraudulent claims submitted to the NDIS, including in circumstances where supports and services were not provided to participants.
AFP officers, in concert with NDIA fraud investigators, executed a search warrant at a home in Villawood, NSW, in December 2025, where police located and seized $35,000 cash alleged to be the proceeds of crime, along with air guns and gel blasters.
The man was subsequently issued with a court attendance notice and is expected to appear before Downing Centre Local Court today charged with one count of dealing with money reasonably suspected of being proceeds of an indictable crime to the value of $1,000,000.00 or more, contrary to section 400.9 (1AB) of the Criminal Code (Cth).
The maximum penalty for this offence is four years’ imprisonment.
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission issued a notice of intention to ban the individual and provider from the NDIS.
Both the NDIA and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s investigations are continuing, and further regulatory action is expected.
AFP Detective Inspector Aidan Milner said the AFP and its FFT partners were committed to stamping out criminal exploitation of Commonwealth payments designed to help those in genuine need.
“Fraud of Commonwealth programs is an area of key focus for the AFP and its partners, and we will be relentless in pursuing any people who seek to exploit our welfare system,” Det Insp Milner added.
“The AFP will not stop in its pursuit of these groups who chop and change companies in a cynical effort to hide their criminal behaviour from law enforcement.”
NDIA Chief Executive Graeme Head said the benefit of strong intelligence and collaboration between FFT partners was clear.
“We act without apology to protect the interests and wellbeing of participants in the NDIS,” Mr Head said.
“Most providers do the right thing, but for the small number who don’t, expect a knock on the door.”
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner Louise Glanville said the regulator is focused on protecting the integrity of the Scheme and the human rights of people with disability.
“Fraud against the NDIS will not be tolerated. By working together with our FFT partners, we are removing bad actors and ensuring those who abuse the Scheme are held accountable,” Commissioner Glanville said.
ACIC National Manager Chris Davey highlighted the critical role of the Fraud Fusion Taskforce in disrupting organised crime within the NDIS.
“The ACIC will continue to equip our Fraud Fusion Taskforce partners with unique, actionable and insightful intelligence to target and disrupt organised crime syndicates who prey on the most vulnerable within our communities.”
This arrest follows a joint crackdown by the Australian Government Fraud Fusion Taskforce (FFT) and the Financial Crime and Money Laundering Working Group (FCML) which saw more than 250 staff from FFT and FCML agencies execute 33 search warrants as part of an AFP-coordinated period of action in November 2025.
Search warrants were executed in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland with more than 43 terabytes of data seized by forensic investigators across the disruption operations.
The FCML is a joint working group comprised of Commonwealth, State and Territory law enforcement, intelligence and regulatory partners focussed on tackling serious financial crime and money laundering.
The FFT is a multi-agency taskforce comprising 24 agencies, co-led by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and Services Australia, and also includes the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission), the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and the AFP, focusing on high-risk and serious criminal activity targeting government programs designed to help those most in need.
