Pharmacy Daily | PBS fraudster forced to repay $1.9m

A pharmacist in Brisbane has been ordered to pay almost $2 million under an enforcement order from the Australian Federal Police's (AFP) Criminal Asset Confiscation Taskforce (CACT).

The move follows a referral from the Department of Health, which alleges the 43-year-old received PBS payments for pharmaceutical benefits which were not actually supplied to eligible recipients.

The pharmacist faced Brisbane Magistrates Court in Jul last year charged with a single count of "obtaining a financial advantage by deception", and following the criminal charge the Department referred the matter to the AFP to consider commencing confiscation proceedings.

The CACT worked closely with investigators from the Department of Health to identify "suspected proceeds of crime under the man's control", with restraints put on several assets as a result.

The items uncovered include a share trading account worth $1.37 million, two houses in Brisbane and an unspecified quantity of cryptocurrency.

These assets will be liquidated, with the money paid into the Government's Confiscated Assets Account, which is managed by the Australian Financial Security Authority on behalf of the Commonwealth.

The funds can be distributed by the Attorney-General to benefit the community through crime prevention, intervention or diversion programs, or other law enforcement activities across Australia, the AFP said.

Stefan Jerga, AFP National Manager Criminal Assets Confiscation, said fraud against the government undermines its ability to deliver services and support to all Australians.

"Defrauding the Government is an affront to all honest and hard-working members of our community," Jerga said.

"Our highly-skilled Australia-wide CACT teams of police officers, financial investigators, litigators, forensic accounts and partner agency specialists will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of criminal assets and protecting the integrity of government measures which support the Australian community.

"Our action in this matter sends another strong signal to anyone trying to defraud the Government that in addition to the risk of being charged and jailed for their conduct, they also risk losing their home and other assets," he said.