Police want "porous" child sexual abuse compensation schemes strengthened after seven people were accused of promoting millions of dollars in false claims.
The so-called "claims farmers" allegedly approached adults who spent time in youth prisons and were former public school students, encouraging them to file false claims for compensation over historical child sexual abuse.
They are accused of coaching them on making fraudulent applications through various Sydney law firms and allegedly received a benefit for referring the claimants on.
Police allege the syndicate - which extended beyond those already arrested - has made claims with an overall value of $1.3 billion, many of which could be false.
Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja said the syndicate targeted a variety of compensation schemes - including the National Redress Scheme - and stood to personally gain about $3.75 million if the allegedly false claims were paid out.
He said the schemes targeted were "easy" to exploit and needed better safeguarding to protect genuine victims.
"NSW Police support legitimate victims, they should be compensated … the problem is the system is porous, and the system needs to be strengthened," Det Supt Arbinja said.
"The threshold to put a claim in is low and that was done for a reason and with good intentions, and it was done in good faith, because legitimate victims deserve compensation; however, criminals don't."
A 55-year-old man is due to face court on Thursday charged with 21...
On February 26, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a significant False Claims Act (FCA) ruling in United States of America ex rel. Cheryl Taylor v. Healthcare ...