Sydney Man Charged With $3.5 Million NDIS Fraud

The director of an NDIS provider is accused of laundering cash defrauded from the NDIS by withdrawing large amounts of cash between 2022 and 2025.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme NDIS logo is seen at the head office in Canberra, June 22, 2022. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Authorities have charged 31-year-old Billal Chami from Villawood in Sydney with defrauding the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) of $3.5 million (US$2.36 million).

The man is the director of an NDIS provider, which delivered government-funded services to participants with disabilities.

This can range from assistance with daily living, such as cleaning, meal preparation and showering, to occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and employment training.

In February 2025, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) noted anomalies with Chami’s finances.

The government’s Fraud Fusion Taskforce (FFT)—which comprises the ACIC, the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission—began an investigation that led to his appearance in the Downing Centre Local Court on Jan. 20.

The AFP alleged Chami repeatedly withdrew large amounts of cash from various accounts at different banks between 2022 and 2025 to launder the suspected proceeds of crime.

Police said the money allegedly came from fraudulent claims submitted to the NDIS, including cases where support and services were not being provided to the clients.

When police executed a search warrant on his home, they found $35,000 cash in a drawer, alleged to be the proceeds of crime, along with several air guns and gel blasters.

Money found in the drawer at the home of a man charged with allegedly defrauding the NDIS of $3.5 million. Courtesy of the Australian Federal Police

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 million or more, which carries a maximum penalty of four years’ imprisonment.

As the investigation continues, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission has issued a notice of intention to ban Chami and his business from the NDIS, with further regulatory action expected.

AFP Detective Inspector Aidan Milner said his agency and other FFT partners were committed to cracking down on government payment fraud.

“Fraud of Commonwealth programs is an area of key focus for the AFP and its partners, and we will be relentless in pursuing any people who seek to exploit our welfare system,” he said.

“The AFP will not stop in its pursuit of these groups who chop and change companies in a cynical effort to hide their criminal behaviour from law enforcement.”

Items seized from the home of a man charged with allegedly defrauding the NDIS of $3.5 million. Courtesy of the Australian Federal Police

NDIS Fraud Crackdown

The arrest follows a coordinated crackdown by the FFT and the Financial Crime and Money Laundering Working Group, during which 33 search warrants were executed in November 2025

One FFT investigation concerns an organised crime group operating in Western Sydney and Adelaide, which is suspected to have claimed more than $40 million in NDIS funding.

The syndicate allegedly submitted hundreds of claims for services that were never delivered to participants, who were themselves in prison at the time.

To combat rising NDIS fraud, the federal Labor government has set a side a significant budget for law enforcement.

According to the 2025-26 federal budget, an additional $151 million over 4 years is available to the existing Crack Down on Fraud (CDoF) program, with ongoing funding of $43.8 million per year from 2029 to 2030.

That is in addition to $17.1 million to maintain the National Disability Insurance Agency’s ability to detect and respond to fraud and non-compliance, and comes on top of an additional $110.4 million spending for the CDoF program announced in December 2024.

According to a recent NDIS quarterly report (pdf), warrants served on suspected criminals increased from 30 in the four years between 2018 and 2021, to 35 in just the first 4 months of 2025.

As of Sept. 30, 2025, there were also more than 635 FTT investigations, with over 1,900 providers submitting incorrect or non-compliant claims to the NDIS.