FRAUD OFFENCE NSW
It is a criminal offence to commit the offence of fraud in NSW. A conviction of fraud can have severe repercussions beyond that imposed by a Court, such as restricting your ability to conduct business and your employability. If you or anyone you know have been accused or charged with a fraud offence, contact our specialised criminal lawyers at Criminal Lawyers Group immediately for a free consultation.
WHAT IS THE OFFENCE OF FRAUD?
Section 192E of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) defines the offence of fraud as being committed when a person, by any deception, dishonestly obtains property belonging to another or obtains any financial advantage or causes any financial disadvantage.
The section states that the obtaining of another person’s property can still be considered to be dishonest even if the accused was willing to pay for the property. It also extends the offence of fraud to include all or any part of a general deficiency in money or other property, even if the deficiency was made up of any number of particular sums of money or items of other property that were obtained over a period of time.
WHAT IS THE OBTAINING OF PROPERTY?
For the purposes of determining whether the offence of fraud has been committed, Section 192C of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) defines obtaining another person’s property as having occurred if the accused obtained ownership, possession or control of the property for themself or for another person, or the accused enabled ownership, possession or control of the property to be retained by themself or by another person, or the accused induced a third person to do something that results in the accused or another person obtaining or retaining ownership, possession or control of the property.
A fraud offence is not committed under this Part of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) by obtaining or intending to obtain property belonging to another person unless the accused intended to permanently deprive the alleged victim of their property.
WHAT IS THE PENALTY FOR THE OFFENCE OF FRAUD?
Section 192E of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) provides for a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment for anyone convicted of the offence of fraud. A conviction may have further consequences beyond imprisonment, with respect to your ability to conduct business, employment and finance.
SYDNEY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AND RELATIVE CHARGED WITH FRAUD AND CORRUPTION OFFENCES
Rabieh Gharibeh and his brother-in-law Ahmed Charchouch have been charged with fraud and corruption offences for allegedly defrauding the NSW Department of Education of approximately $1.4 million while Mr Gharibeh was the Principal of Granville South Creative and Performing Arts High School and subsequently Sir Joseph Banks High School. It is stated that during his time as a Principal Mr Gharibeh had financial delegation authority of up to $150,000.
Mr Charchouch is alleged to have been the director of a cleaning company which received almost $1.4 million for fake maintenance works at the Granville and Banks schools before money was transferred to a bank account associated with Mr Gharibeh.
The arrests follow extensive inquiries from Strike Force Heidi, which was established last year by State Crime Command’s Financial Crime Squad, with the assistance of the NSW Department of Education, to investigate allegations made against the principal. The investigation led police to identify anomalies in the invoices.
Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja stated that the arrests were ordered “to prevent a further $165k worth of fraud that they were expecting as late as yesterday”.
NSW Police allege that Mr Gharibeh pocketed approximately $900,000 of the money, whilst Mr Charchouch pocketed the remaining approximate of $500,000.
The men were arrested by NSW Financial Crime Squad detectives, who seized cash, Rolex watches and bullet proof vests. They were charged with more than 60 charges each, which included dishonestly obtaining financial advantage, attempting to dishonestly obtain financial advantage, and directing or participating in a criminal group.
CONTACT CRIMINAL LAWYERS GROUP NOW
If you or anyone you know have been accused or charged with a fraud offence, contact our expert criminal lawyers at Criminal Lawyers Group immediately for a free consultation. Our award-winning criminal law experts have proven results in securing not guilty verdicts for our clients across NSW who have been charged with fraud offences.