Melbourne mother to be jailed with baby
A Melbourne mother and her son will face up to at least 12 months behind bars after she stole almost $200,000 from Medicare while employed at a medical clinic.
Sarah Ward, 31, made more than 1,600 false claims to Medicare, sometimes up to 80 a day, while working as a medical receptionist at the Melbourne Digestive Centre.
It was not the first time the mother had committed fraud while working in the medical field.
Ward had just completed a sentence for stealing $29,000 from Cabrini Hospital, where she worked for five years before being terminated.
The County Court Judge Geoff Chettle sentenced Ward to two years, ordering her to serve at least 12 months in jail after she pleaded guilty to a single charge of obtaining a financial advantage by deception from a Commonwealth entity.
The 31-year-old mother of two stole $181,121.75 from Medicare between March 2019 and April 2020.
Out of the 1,609 false claims, her name was on 781 and her husband’s name was on 828, with refunds transferred into bank accounts for both of them.
Her fraud was discovered when the clinic’s accountants tipped off authorities and Medicare.
Ward told a psychologist she believes she was inadequately paid and wished to keep up with her affluent friends, wanting to buy better clothing for her children and a better car.
Judge Chettle said Ward had wanted to keep up with the lifestyles she saw on social media.
Ward believed if she was not able to accumulate the money to match the affluent lifestyles she so desired, then it would result in her experiencing recurrent rejection and would remain on the periphery of social groups, according to Chettle.
Her offending involved planning and sophistication which was both repetitive and long-lasting.
She obtained a hefty amount of funds, and breached the trust placed in her by her employees, Chettle said.
Ward was fired by the clinic as soon as the offence was uncovered, she then went to work for a psychology practice who were unaware of her fraud.
She has been on maternity leave since February 2022, but seems destined to lose that job once she’s behind bars, the judge said.
The court was told Ward had repaid the money in full, taking $100,000 from a mortgage offset account and selling a $70,000 car. She also allegedly borrowed money from her mother.
Ward has two children, aged one and three.
The one-year-old will go into custody with her as part of a Corrections Victoria’s Living with Mum program.
Former colleague Vanessa Whitelaw attended Ward’s court hearings to get closure after a traumatic period within what was described as a tight-knit workplace.
Co-workers had wondered about Ward’s luxurious lifestyle, Whitelaw said.
We thought it was very strange — she was very young, (with a) new family, mortgage, driving around in a $150,000 vehicle, Gucci scarves, fancy shoes,” she said.
“But never in a million years did we think that this was going on behind the scenes.”
We thought it was very strange — she was very young, (with a) new family, mortgage, driving around in a $150,000 vehicle, Gucci scarves, fancy shoes,” she said.
“But never in a million years did we think that this was going on behind the scenes.”
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