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October 10, 2025
A network of alleged criminals including men in immigration detention awaiting deportation is accused of defrauding taxpayers at least $8m by impersonating sick Australians to steal their Medicare benefits.
Services Australia has confirmed multiple arrests have been made as part of an ongoing joint investigation with the Australian Federal Police into a massive Medicare ripoff, with work still under way to determine how many victims have been impacted.
The alleged perpetrators are accused of tricking Australians into handing over personal information and log-in details that were then used to ensure Medicare-related rebates and payments were made into bank accounts controlled by the alleged criminals.
Services Australia general manager of fraud control and investigations Peter Timson told a Senate Estimates hearing in Canberra yesterday the agency had calculated the total cost of the scam at "approximately $8m" but warned it was an "ongoing investigation".
"Some of the funds have been recovered, have been frozen ... in bank accounts," he said.
The Daily Telegraph last month revealed three people had so far been charged in relation to the alleged scam ring, including Manuele Ene and Navreet Singh, who are inmates at the Melbourne Immigration Detention Centre awaiting deportation.
Opposition acting home affairs spokesman James Paterson said it was "extraordinary" individuals in a government detention centre had the means to allegedly commit a "serious and ongoing fraud against everyday Australians".
"The Coalition has campaigned relentlessly to give detention officials stronger powers to confiscate devices within these centres," he said.
Senator Paterson said Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke needed to "explain how this was allowed to happen and what actions the government will take to ensure it cannot happen again".
Services Australia deputy chief of the payments and integrity group Chris Birrer told Senate Estimates: "They (the alleged offenders) were impersonating customers to the agency and impersonating the agency to medical providers in order to essentially trick people into providing their log-on details in order to access the systems to have payments made into bank accounts that they controlled.
"During the search warrant execution at the immigration detention facility, there was a number of devices that were recovered which we suspect were involved in the offending."
Mr Birrer said the cost of the fraud ultimately fell broadly on taxpayers, but acknowledged there were serious impacts on individual victims.
"People have their identities impersonated, accounts accessed, and that creates a range of inconveniences," he said.
"It does have an impact on individuals."
Mr Birrer said Services Australia was always looking to improve security of services like the MyGov online portal.