One alleged fraudster will appear at the Manukau District Court today while the other four will appear in Hamilton. Photo / NZME
Five people have been charged over an alleged scheme to make multiple fraudulent claims to the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).
Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Neilson said the charges followed a “significant fraud investigation” by police and ACC.
It was launched following multiple incidents where clients “misused an online platform to gain funds through a reimbursement process”.
Police were alerted to the coordinated operation in November last year, Neilson said.
The five people charged are believed to be the key individuals involved, he said. Three women aged 31, 24 and 36, and a 41-year-old man will appear in Hamilton District Court today while a woman aged 42 will appear in Manukau District Court today.
They all face two charges of accessing a computer for dishonest purposes.
“Due to the large scope of offending, police are making further enquiries and further charges are being considered,” Neilson said.
“Police take fraud seriously and offending like this will not be tolerated. We will continue to hold offenders who participate in these activities to account.”
Police could not comment further as the matter was before the court.
ACC deputy chief executive Michael Frampton said the organisation’s IT teams had worked with forensic experts to investigate the fraud, and found no evidence that ACC’s cyber security had been compromised.
“Maintaining the privacy of client information is of utmost importance to usand clients who use our MyACC self-service application can be assured theplatform is safe to use and their data is secure.“
”The laying of criminal charges demonstrates the seriousness of the fraud and we thank NZ Police for their help,” Frampton said.
Police were called to the scene at 6.40am.