A 45-year-old man, has been fined for falsely claiming a back injury while working as an escort and has been sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work. WorkSafe Victoria discovered that he had also worked in other industries while receiving compensation. He received a total of $74,744 in weekly compensation payments between April 2020 and December 2021, claiming the payments for a back injury sustained as a cooling system service technician.

An investigation by WorkSafe revealed that he had received payments from clients for escort services during the same period. Additionally, he had also worked as a cleaner for a hotel, a construction company, and a resort between July and December 2021. Despite his various work activities, he did not disclose any of them and falsely claimed that he had not worked while receiving compensation payments.

The man pleaded guilty to a charge of fraudulently obtaining payments by deception and was convicted in the Shepparton Magistrates Court. He was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order, involving 200 hours of unpaid community work. Roger Arnold, the executive director of WorkSafe Victoria’s insurance business unit, condemned the behavior as unacceptable and emphasized that such fraudulent actions would face serious consequences.