“It is further alleged that the application indicated that it would be a non-profit organization, if in fact it was a private company,” the magistrate said.
She said when inspectors visited the site, it was permanently closed to a construction site.
Craig Thomson speaks to reporters after his release on bail.Credit:Janie Barrett
The money from this subsidy was allegedly used for private school expenses, a vehicle lease and accommodation.
Ms Price said the prosecutor’s case for both grants was “relatively strong”.
The court heard that Mr. Thomson allegedly filed a fraudulent claim for $ 3,000 a week in JobSaver payments that were not approved or paid, and filed a fraudulent document to try to get a rent reduction.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Chris Harding acknowledged that the alleged fraud amount was not the worst the magistrate would have seen.
“It sure is … a predictable and calculated course of criminal behavior that Mr Thomson has engaged in,” he said.
Sergeant Harding said that even if there were no direct allegations of physical violence, the AVO violation allegedly happened “just hours after they were released on parole” on Tuesday, arguing that Mr Thomson had a history of non-inhaling and contempt of court judgments.
“Any violation of them undermines the efficiency and respect of the criminal justice system if they are simply ignored,” the prosecutor said.
Legal aid lawyer Ian Le Breton said the court could “take some comfort” in the fact that Mr Thomson de Bail has been in compliance with Commonwealth issues since November last year, also regularly reporting to police .
He said Mr Thomson had given up his passport and should not have left the greater Sydney or Newcastle region, including the central coast, and had “very much remained within the jurisdiction”.
He said the fraud charges were “very detailed issues” and asked the magistrate to take into account the significant difficulties that lawyers faced during the pandemic.
Ms Price said if convicted in prison, “it could take a few months before these matters are resolved and possibly longer” if the director’s office of the prosecutor were involved.
She said the dishonesty and counterfeiting issues seemed to involve a “significant degree of forensic accounting that needed to be considered”, and was satisfied that the proposed bail conditions “improved the risks”.
“I say this with a degree of caution,” she said, noting the lack of significant criminal history and early compliance with bail conditions.
She told Mr Thomson that if further issues arose, due to the “number of cases pending before the court … it will become increasingly difficult to convince a court to give bail”.
Mr Thomson must live in his unit, report to Gosford Police three days a week, not be within 500 meters of any international departure point, not travel outside of Sydney and Newcastle, behave well and respect his AVO conditions.
Asked outside the police station after his release whether he had anything to say about the allegations that he had issued COVID-19 business grants for personal expenses, Mr Thomson replied: “It is not true.”
His case goes back to April 5th.
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