An Epping man is one of three men to have been charged with a series of offences relating to a criminal syndicate that allegedly exploited foreign students who were subcontracted to Australia Post as delivery drivers.
Rakesh Kumar, 37, appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday on five charges, including conspiracy to obtain or gain from a Commonwealth entity, falsifying documents, possessing forged documents and dealing with money or property that is suspected of being the proceeds of crime.
Kumar and 34-year-old Balwyn man Baljit “Bobby” Singh are listed as co-directors of registered training provider St Stephen Institute of Technology. The business has allegedly been used as a front for a large scale fraud scheme estimated to have robbed millions of dollars from students and government agencies.
Following a joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Australian Border Police and the Australian Skills Quality Authority, and with assistance of Australia Post, raids were carried out in Lalor, Epping, Preston, Balwyn and Tarneit last Tuesday.
More than 8.5 million worth of assets were seized, including a 2014 Ferrari, six properties, a 2015 Range Rover, a number of expensive watches and more than $180,000 in cash.
The AFP alleges that St Stephen Institute of Technology and another training provider, Symbiosis Institute of Technical Education, owned by Mukesh Sharma, who faces similar charges as Kumar, were not providing education but were instead offering student visas for Indian students who were then subcontracted to Australia Post to work as delivery drivers through Singh’s labour hire companies.
St Stephen Institute of Education leases a space above Corrections Victoria in High Street, Reservoir.
The AFP estimates the two training providers have charged more than $9 million in fees from international students as well as fraudulently claiming about $2 million government funding.
Australia Post Managing Director and CEO Ahmed Fahour said the company has appointed former Police chief commissioner Ken Lay to chair a review into its use of Singh’s labour hire company.
“Make no mistake, any allegation of inappropriate or illegal behaviour by contractors is entirely unacceptable to this organisation,” he said.
Kumar and Singh were granted bail to return to court in January.
