Jye Sellings, 33, formerly of the Echuca area, pleaded guilty in Echuca Magistrates’ Court to invoicing for services not rendered to gain money from NDIS funds allocated to his client.
The court heard Sellings, who owns NDIS provider Choice, Independence, Empowerment, contacted the daughter of a Pine Grove man in his 60s who had a stroke in November 2020, offering his services for her father.
By February 2021, the man had stopped engaging with the services offered, but Sellings continued to bill him for services until June, when the victim’s daughter noticed money was coming from his NDIS account for services he had not used.
The court was told there were 10 invoices, for a total of 48 services, amounting to $12,400.
While it was government-funded money Sellings used, it meant that the client could not use the NDIS funding to access services he needed help with because his allocated funding had been used up.
The court also heard the victim had died in January last year.
Magistrate Dominic Lennon sentenced Sellings to an 18-month community corrections order, which included 150 hours of community work.
In sentencing him, he warned Sellings that the only things that saved him from being jailed was his prior good character and his remorse for the offending.
“It was an error of judgment,” Mr Lennon said.
“But it was not a momentary lapse.
“This is taxpayer funded, and it relies on honesty in the system.
“And this has caused considerable distress to the victim.”
The magistrate did not order any compensation be paid back to the NDIS because there had not been any formal application for restitution.
The court heard Sellings had worked in the disability sector since 2015 and had his own business.
When the charge was laid, Sellings’ NDIS check was suspended, and his defence counsel said over the next few months the business would cease to exist because he could not interact with clients.
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