VIC German Citizen Accused of Fraud - How Real are the Threats?

[Jack norton]

Hello everyone,

A friend of mine used to work for a construction Labour Hire Company in Melbourne. He's being accused of fraud. Here is the original Text message that has been send to him :

"Xxx, this is XXX a Director at XXX - Labour Hire. We have discovered that you have fraudulently created timesheets and have been instructed by our lawyers to report your fraud to both the Victoria Police and Australian Immigration. This will enable us to stop you leaving Australia. We will do this on Friday unless we hear from you and how you expect to repay the large amount."

My question is :

How real are those threats?

All the best,

 

[Iamthelaw]

Realistically, that's all they are - Threats.

What exactly is your question?

 

[Lance]

I agree. If they haven't been served with a letter of demand or court documents why would they tell your friend they are going to take action, it serves no purpose than to intimidate and saying "large amount" makes it sound bogus. Only your friend knows the truth, if they has done nothing wrong they shouldn't panic just yet.

 

[Jack norton]

Thank you for answering!

Realistically, that's all they are - Threats.

What exactly is your question?

My question is, what can my friend expect.

I don't know if he committed the fraud or not. For the sake of the argument, let's assume he did. He's not in Victoria anymore, nor does the agency has his current address. All they have on him would be a copy of his passport and his whitecard (construction card)

I agree. If they haven't been served with a letter of demand or court documents why would they tell your friend they are going to take action, it serves no purpose than to intimidate and saying "large amount" makes it sound bogus. Only your friend knows the truth, if they has done nothing wrong they shouldn't panic just yet.

That's the thing. I don't know if he did or didn't. And because the agency doesn't have his current address, I'm wondering how they would proceed ?

 

[Lance]

That might explain why it was done by message then. If your friend did do the wrong thing and the old employer are telling the truth in the message, your friend should speak with a lawyer or they may not be able to leave the country any time soon. That or if they feel they have done nothing wrong they can take their chances and hope that the old employer is bluffing.

 

[Jack norton]

That might explain why it was done by message then. If your friend did do the wrong thing and the old employer are telling the truth in the message, your friend should speak with a lawyer or they may not be able to leave the country any time soon. That or if they feel they have done nothing wrong they can take their chances and hope that the old employer is bluffing.

Thank you for your answer. That means that without a trial or any statement my friends could get evicted and he would face the consequences at the airport?

 

[Jack norton]

Just to add additional Information:

The friend is, as stated above, a German citizen and is currently in Australia on a working holiday visa.

He has no current address of residency in Australia. He is planning on leaving AUS January.

How long would any legal action take if the agency proceeds this Friday as stated in their text message.

Thanks guys

 

[Iamthelaw]

Just to add additional Information:

The friend is, as stated above, a German citizen and is currently in Australia on a working holiday visa.

He has no current address of residency in Australia. He is planning on leaving AUS January.

How long would any legal action take if the agency proceeds this Friday as stated in their text message.

Thanks guys

That depends on a large number of variables and is almost impossible to say with certainty.

 

[Jack norton]

That depends on a large number of variables and is almost impossible to say with certainty.

What variables would that be?

In the case of this allegedfraud, we are not talking big money. It would be somewhat around 4-5 K. The Agency found out about this 3 weeks ago and tried to get hold of the friend via phone. After him not answering, he received that final text message above.

Whilst working for that company, the friend took pictures of the timesheets weekly, and sent them to the manager. Now they accuse him of faking the last 4 timesheets or so, because he allegedly wasn't working on site anymore. And that's all they got. They have the subcontractors claiming my friend wasn't working for them. They have the timesheet copies.

Any details on what kind of legal action can be taken, and how fast that would be, would be great.

Thank you