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EXCLUSIVE: Glamorous Service NSW worker is accused of leaking 85 clients’ information to a colleague so he could ‘steal over $150,000 in Centrelink benefits’
- Selina Saab, 22, accused of stealing private data from 85 clients
- A Sydney woman worked for Service NSW from July to October 2021
- He then allegedly gave them to his friend Salim Merheb, 23.
- Allegedly fraudulently claimed $150,150 in financial benefits
A young government employee is accused of leaking the private information of at least 85 clients and giving it to a friend to allegedly steal more than $150,000 in flood and Covid recovery payments.
Selina Saab, 22, was working as a contractor for Service NSW when she allegedly stole the identification details of 85 Australians between July and October 2021.
The public servant, from Bankstown in south-west Sydney, allegedly sent the details to 23-year-old Salim Merheb via a courier service.
Merheb is alleged to have used the information to submit a series of fraudulent applications for government financial aid plans provided by the Federal Government, estimated to be worth $150,150, over the next eight months.
Selina Saab, 22, has been charged after allegedly giving private information to a friend
Court documents show that Merheb allegedly first claimed at least seven disaster recovery payments from the Australian government, which paid $1,000 per adult to NSW flood victims, between June and July 2021.
From July to November, he reportedly went on to apply for Covid Disaster Payments, which were provided to those unable to work due to public health orders.
Payments for the scheme ranged from $200 to $750 per week, depending on the number of work hours lost, with the highest bracket available to those whose roster was shortened by more than 20 hours.
Merheb has reportedly started targeting the pandemic leave disaster pay, designed to help Australians unable to work due to Covid-19 lockdown.
He allegedly filed three claims on December 9, the same day the government lowered the payment from $1,500 to $750, as isolation periods were reduced from fifteen days to one week.
Seven days later, the Australian Federal Police executed a search warrant at Merheb’s home in Mount Pritchard and seized a number of items.
However, despite being observed by investigators, the police will allege that he continued to commit crimes until March.
In May 2021, he was arrested and charged with possession of suspected proceeds of crime and 33 counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
Saab worked as a contractor for Service NSW for four months at the end of 2021
The police will also allege that Merhab was making fraudulent requests since April 2021.
Nearly a year later, a strike force carried out a dawn raid on Saab’s family’s Bankstown unit at around 6:20 a.m. on November 3.
After various items including electronic equipment, a mobile phone and documents were seized, Saab was arrested and released on bail to appear in Downing Center Local Court on December 14.
Under the conditions of his bail, Saab must report to police every day Monday through Friday, reside at his family’s home in Bankstown, must not contact witnesses or Merheb, and not commit any crime involving information from identity.
On February 8, Saab will appear in court on one count of trafficking identification information and using it to commit fraud.
Merheb did not attend the hearing of his case at Parramatta Local Court on Friday.
The case was adjourned to be heard in the same court on February 3.