Court slams tradesperson for workers’ compensation fraud

Newtown Local Court has sentenced self-employed tradesperson Luis Manuel Farinha Alves to a 12-month intensive correction order for defrauding the NSW workers’ compensation scheme.

According to the court, Alves began receiving weekly workers’ compensation payments between April 2001 and December 2017, totalling $170,000.

The State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) started investigating Alves after receiving information that he kept failing to disclose his income while receiving weekly payments. It found that Alves had been employed as a bus driver since 2011, but failed to notify his insurer of his employment and income.

After pleading guilty to the charge in June 2022, the court ordered Alves to serve nine months in home detention and repay $170,000 to the NSW workers’ compensation scheme and $38,630 in legal costs.

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SIRA chief executive Adam Dent reminded workers to act honestly so that the NSW workers’ compensation scheme can support those who need it.

“Lying to receive workers’ compensation payments undermines the ability of the scheme to provide care and support to genuinely injured workers,” Dent said. “SIRA will always take steps to protect the NSW workers compensation scheme from fraud and won’t hesitate to prosecute anyone that fraudulently obtains money they’re not entitled to.”