A Nigerian Australian citizen, Foluso Omole, has been arrested at an airport in Adelaide, Australia, over his alleged involvement in a $5m fraud linked to the country’s National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Omole, 38, was apprehended by operatives of the Australian Federal Police at Adelaide Airport on Friday while allegedly preparing to leave the country for Nigeria.
According to a report by ABC News, the suspect appeared before the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, where his application for bail was rejected after prosecutors raised concerns that he might flee the country.
The court was told that Omole had purchased a one way ticket to Nigeria before his arrest and had allegedly transferred substantial sums of money to the country, where his wife lives.
Prosecutors alleged that Omole, who worked as an NDIS coordinator while operating two businesses, improperly obtained information from a female employee of the National Disability Insurance Agency over a six year period.
The information was allegedly used to facilitate fraudulent claims under the disability insurance scheme.
The woman accused of providing the information has also been charged in connection with the alleged fraud and was expected to appear before the court on Thursday.
However, Omole’s lawyer, Mark Twiggs, rejected the prosecution’s claim that his client intended to abscond.
He told the court that Omole had planned to travel to London on a return ticket purchased before authorities raided the woman’s home.
Twiggs argued that his client had no previous criminal record and should therefore be granted bail.
“My client has good reason why he should be given bail,” the lawyer told the court.
Omole has not entered a plea to the charges, which include allegedly dealing with proceeds of an indictable offence valued at more than $1m and dealing with money or property worth more than $1m suspected to be proceeds of crime.
Magistrate Patrick Hill, however, refused the bail application, citing concerns over the defendant’s likelihood of fleeing the jurisdiction.
Hill said the nature of Omole’s travel plans was relevant to determining whether he posed a flight risk, adding that the other concerns raised by the prosecution also reinforced the decision to deny bail.
Meanwhile, the case comes months after another Nigerian couple, Luciana and Femi Akanbi, were jailed in the United Kingdom for their involvement in a separate tax fraud scheme.
The couple were convicted over a scheme that allegedly exploited personal information belonging to employees of Transport for London to submit fraudulent tax rebate claims.
According to Kent Live, the fraud, which was carried out between September 2021 and January 2022, involved sensitive details belonging to at least 40 TfL employees, including passport information, National Insurance numbers and bank details.
The information was allegedly used to file 139 fraudulent tax refund claims, resulting in losses of more than £433,000 to the public purse.
Court proceedings at Woolwich Crown Court also revealed that Luciana Akanbi, 38, who worked in TfL’s human resources department, had access to the personal records of about 107 employees, which were allegedly exploited in the scheme.