A family affected by the Maribyrnong River floods says fraudsters made six applications for flood relief payments at their address, which meant the owner and his 93-year-old mother were unable to apply for the assistance. The state government confirmed it had noticed suspected bogus applications for the payment for some houses.
Oakland Street resident Stan Gradski and his elderly mother, Janina, live about 100 metres from the river’s edge in the north-west Melbourne neighbourhood. When the river swelled last Friday, Gradski said floodwater reached chin-height in their home of 48 years, destroying countless belongings.
He said his daughter tried to apply numerous times for the Victorian government’s one-off $580 relief payment on his and his mother’s behalf, but the system kept rejecting the application.
Gradski said he then went to the Maribyrnong relief centre on Wednesday and, after clearing up initial suspicions he might be a fraudster, staff told him there had already been six different payment applications for his address, including some using different names.
“Society has those types of people,” he said.
Pointing to all the support in the form of food and drink drop-offs and kind notes, he added: “All the good people override that nonsense. If you don’t believe in angels, I’m telling you, they’re around here.”
After getting support to complete his payment application, Gradski was relieved he would receive the funds soon.
“It’ll come in handy because we went and bought a washing machine yesterday so we can wash our clothes,” he said.
He encouraged other flood victims having difficulty submitting applications to visit their local relief centre. “We tried many, many times, and it’s just wasting your time.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing said the department was aware of a small number of suspected fraudulent relief payment applications.theage