First criminal conviction for JobKeeper fraud

A person claiming to be a sole trader  was convicted of three counts of making a false and misleading statement to the Commissioner of Taxation, in order to receive $6,000 in JobKeeper payments to which he was not entitled, as he was not operating a genuine business and he had already agreed to be nominated by his full-time employer for the allowance.

The ATO has a dedicated integrity strategy that supports the administration of the Government’s stimulus packages, with robust and efficient compliance systems that make it very easy to identify fraudulent behaviour and stop it.

ATO Deputy Commissioner Will Day said “Since the first payments were made in April, the ATO has monitored every payment, every day, every month, and will continue to do so until the last payment is made.”