Thursday, August 20, 2026 - An Australia-based Nigerian, Foluso Omole, is facing trial over his alleged role in a $5m fraud involving the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
According to a report published by ABC News on Monday, that
Omole was arrested by operatives of the Australian Federal Police at Adelaide
Airport last Friday while allegedly attempting to flee Australia.
According to the report, Omole had allegedly “cut ties” in
Adelaide and was preparing to travel to Nigeria before his arrest, a court
heard.
The 38-year-old appeared before the Adelaide Magistrates
Court on Monday, where his bail application was refused following allegations
that he had attempted to leave Australia for Nigeria.
The court heard that Omole, a dual Australian and Nigerian
citizen, had “purchased a one-way ticket to Nigeria” before his arrest.
A prosecutor also told the court that Omole appeared to have
“sent, over the course of his offending, significant funds back to Nigeria”,
where his wife resides.
The report stated that Omole was working as an NDIS
coordinator and operating two businesses that employed several staff at the
time of the alleged offences.
The prosecutor reportedly told the court that Omole
allegedly received information “improperly” from a woman employed by the
National Disability Insurance Agency over a period of six years and “used that
information to obtain benefit fraudulently”.
The woman, who has also been charged in connection with the
alleged fraud, was expected to appear in court on Thursday.
However, disputing the allegation that Omole intended to
flee Australia, his lawyer, Mark Twiggs, told the court that his client had
informed him that he planned to travel to London on a “return ticket” purchased
before any raid on the woman’s home.
“The charges are denied. He has no record at all.
“My client has good reason why he should be given bail,”
Twiggs said.
Omole is yet to enter pleas to one count of dealing with
proceeds of an indictable crime worth more than $1m and one count of dealing
with money or property valued at more than $1m that is allegedly the proceeds
of crime.
Magistrate Patrick Hill, however, refused bail, citing
concerns that Omole posed a flight risk.
“Whether it was a one-way ticket to Nigeria or a return
ticket to London does make a difference as to the court’s assessment of whether
or not Mr Omole is a flight risk.
“For the other reasons put forward by the prosecution, in
any event, I remain concerned that he is a risk of flight and the bail
application is refused,” Hill said.
In April, a Nigerian couple, Luciana and Femi Akanbi, were
jailed in the United Kingdom for their involvement in a similar fraud scheme.
According to a Kent Live report on Thursday that
the couple used personal data belonging to Transport for London employees to
carry out a tax rebate fraud scheme that cost the public purse more than
£433,000.
The fraud, which was carried out between September 2021 and
January 2022, was reportedly based on sensitive information belonging to at
least 40 TfL workers, including passport details, National Insurance numbers
and bank records. The information was used to submit 139 fraudulent tax refund
claims.
Court proceedings at Woolwich Crown Court 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 later exploited for
the scheme
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