7 hours Ago By Perry Duffin
Two Sydney men will front court on Tuesday accused of defrauding the government of $200,000 by submitting false reports to a sexual assault compensation fund. Nicholas Briggs, 37, and Jaiden Gribble, 30, will appear in Burwood Local Court after being arrested on Monday morning at a Lidcombe hotel. Police will allege the pair made financial claims to the NSW government for victim compensation using the Sexual Assault Reporting Option (SARO) and funnelled the money into multiple bank accounts.
SARO is an online portal introduced by NSW Police, in 2022, which allows people to report sexual assaults without triggering a formal investigation. It is designed to empower victims to report incidents to the police, anonymously if they choose, replacing a little-known and seldom-used form that victims previously filled out and submitted to police. SARO reports can be used in applications for compensation from the government’s victim support service.
The State Crime Command’s fraud investigators formed Strike Force Avranches as they investigated multiple suspicious compensation claims using SARO in August. The two men received more than $218,000 in fraudulent payments, NSW Police alleged in a statement. Both Briggs and Gribble were taken to Auburn police station.
Briggs was charged with 25 counts of dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence, 19 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, and one count of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime with intent to conceal. Meanwhile, Gribble was charged with recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime of more than $5000, dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence, and dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. Both men were refused bail ahead of their court appearance.
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