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Brother of NRL star who scammed $5,000 in emergency payments and bragged about ‘the gift of chatter’ learns his fate after being caught
- Drew Reynolds fined $5,000 for fraudulent flood relief payments
- Reynolds is the brother of ex-NRL star and player of origin Josh Reynolds
- He made five fraudulent allegations of Centrelink posing as friends and family
- Reynolds co-conspirators Aaron and William Sowter were also convicted
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The brother of former NRL star Josh Reynolds has bragged about committing flood relief fraud after claiming he has ‘the gift of chatter’.
Drew Reynolds, 30, scammed $5,000 in disaster relief payments by impersonating his friends and family to make claims on homes he wasn’t in or that weren’t damaged by the floods.
Reynolds is the brother of former Canterbury Bulldogs and West Tigers star Josh Reynolds, who represented the NSW Blues four times.
He made five fraudulent Centrelink claims posing as family and friends, while his two friends, Aaron and William Sowter, were also convicted of their role in the scam.
Drew Reynolds, 30, impersonated his friends and family and claimed homes he wasn’t in or that hadn’t been damaged by the floods, swindling $5,000 in disaster relief payments
Reynolds told his friend and a co-offender, “Luckily I have the gift of the chatter, son” and “100 percent success rate LOL,” reported The Daily Telegraph.
he took advantage $3,000 from his own claims and the $1,000 from the two other claims with his co-offenders.
Reynolds pleaded guilty to receiving financial benefit from a Commonwealth entity and to obtaining financial benefit for someone else in Burwood Local Court on Wednesday.
The police fact sheet stated between April 10 and April 19, 2021 that Reynolds made the first three claims, receiving $1,000 in damages each time.
He claimed a house in Belmore where he no longer lived and pretended to be both his father and one of his brothers to lay claim to real estate in Long Jetty – nominating his own personal bank account to receive the money.
Every time the money was deposited into his account, he bragged to his friend Aaron Sowter: “100 percent success rate, LOL.”
Reynolds, on behalf of co-offenders Aaron and William Sowter, told Aaron, “I’ll do it for you, (we’ll go) halfsies.”
Reynolds (right) is the brother of former Canterbury Bulldogs and West Tigers star Josh Reynolds, who represented the NSW Blues four times
Court documents revealed that Reynolds had called Centrelink 22 times during the offending period.
Reynolds was fined $5,000 and handed a nine-month community correction order.
Aaron and William Sowter were both convicted of one charge of receiving financial benefit from a Commonwealth entity.
Aaron was fined $2,500, while William received a $2,000 fine and a nine-month correction order.