A MAN who defrauded $100,000 from a Queensland Government flood appeal has been ordered by a court to repay a tenth of the amount he stole.
In the Brisbane District Court on Wednesday Thuy Van Nguyen, 33, was sentenced to four years in jail, to be suspended after 12 months, after he pleaded guilty to one count of fraud.
Judge Brad Farr SC also ordered Nguyen to give $10,000 to the Queensland Premier's Disaster Relief Fund 2011 within 48 hours of his sentence being handed down.
The court heard that Nguyen submitted an application for disaster relief after the June 30, 2011 cut-off date.
In the application, Nguyen signed a statutory declaration and alleged the flood damage to his home in Oxley had left him homeless.
He also said he was uninsured and had no income.
He attached a cover letter that falsely claimed he missed the cut-off date because he had depression.
Judge Farr said that in reality Nguyen was living with his wife's family, was earning $640 per fortnight from a tenant in the Oxley home, and he was earning $788 gross per week from his grocery store at Lutwyche.
The court heard that while the home was "damaged" it was "not a house which fell within the parameter of this appeal".
Nguyen was eventually caught out by authorities when the tenant in the home also tried to claim flood damage.
By then Nguyen had already received a total of $100,000 from three payments.
The court heard Nguyen spent some of the money paying off a $37,000 debt from his grocery business and his financial woes were the "catalyst" for the fraud.
"(There is) no doubt your behaviour is serious indeed...you exploited the system to your own benefit and you received a significant sum of money," Judge Farr said.
"(The fund) placed heavy reliance on the honesty of applicants and you took advantage of the system."
Judge Farr noted Vietnam-born Nguyen had a difficult childhood and he had been a heroin addict but said this didn't excuse his action.
"You grew up with no moral guidance, that might be true Mr Nguyen, but one doesn't need moral guidance to know what you did was wrong."
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