Sydney NDIS Director Charged in $3.6 Million Fraud Scheme

In short: The director of an NDIS provider has been charged over his alleged role in defrauding millions of taxpayer dollars. Australian Federal Police officers allegedly found $35,000 in cash stored in an underwear drawer, along with several air guns and gel blasters. What's next? Billal Chami will face court again on March 24. The director of a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider has been charged over his alleged role in defrauding millions of taxpayer dollars. Billal Chami, 31, is accused of being involved in laundering $3.6 million in cash, which police said derived from fraudulent claims to the NDIS. Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege some of the submitted claims included circumstances where support and services were not provided to participants. Authorities said they began investigating the director of the NDIS provider in February last year after the Australian Security and Investments Commission (ASIC) detected anomalies with Mr Chami's finances. It will be alleged that Mr Chami repeatedly withdrew significant amounts of cash from various banks between 2022 and 2025 to aid himself and others in the laundering of dirty cash. Officers raided his Villawood home in December where they allegedly seized $35,000 in cash stored in an underwear drawer, along with several air guns and gel blasters. Facing Sydney Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday, Mr Chami had his bail continued by the magistrate. Under his bail conditions, he is prohibited from contacting 26 people related to the investigation into the alleged fraudulent claims. Mr Chami has been charged with one count of dealing with money reasonably suspected of being proceeds of an indictable crime to the value of $1,000,000 or more. The maximum penalty for the offence is four years' imprisonment. The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission has issued a notice of intention to ban Mr Chami and his provider from the scheme. Mr Chami's arrest comes after a joint national crackdown resulted in 333 search warrants being carried out across New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia. The AFP said its targeted operations have so far resulted in 43 terabytes of data being seized by forensic investigators. Mr Chami will face court again on March 24.