ATO issues warning after consultant's Sydney home raided amid alleged fraud charges
NDIS whistleblowers lift lid on sick black market where vulnerable people are exploited for profit
The most vulnerable NDIS participants have become commodities in a shock cash-for-clients scheme. One whistleblower now has a solution to weed out the dodgy providers. SEE THE VIDEO
Julie Cross@juliejourno
August 11, 2025
Exclusive: Disabled people in the NDIS are being traded like commodities for thousands of dollars, completely unaware they’re being auctioned off to the highest bidder, whistleblowers claim.
Those with the biggest NDIS plans are most vulnerable to this sick blackmarket, according to Tanya-Lee Quinn, a Sydney-based CEO of a disability company.
“There are people that call themselves consultants or concierges, and they will approach a disability service provider and, and they’ll say I’ve got a potential customer or participant for your group home and they’ll want a percentage of the plan value or a flat rate,” Ms Quinn, said. She herself has been offered cash for referrals, which she rejected.
“What they’ll do is they’ll offer it to a bunch and whoever pays the most they will place that participant. They’ll tell that participant that, ‘I’m going to find you the right home, the best people, the best service, and I’m working for you’. But they’re actually working for themselves. It’s whoever’s willing to sort of do the backdoor deal that gets the vacancies filled.
“You’ve got these people that are claiming to be helping them, and they’re actually just funnelling them to friends and family and putting them in sometimes terrible positions…”
How these Australians became NDIS millionaires
They’re flaunting luxury cars, multi-million dollar mansions, first-class flights and designer handbags. See the video and how these Aussie NDIS providers are living the high life.
Julie Cross and Stephen DrillNational News Network
4 min read
August 10, 2025 - 5:00AM
Exclusive: NDIS providers are living the high life, splurging on supercars, multimillion-dollar property portfolios and first-class travel.
The lavish spending also includes Louis Vuitton handbags, cosmetic surgery and gambling funds.
The most shocking showiness unearthed by this masthead is that of Dr Sanjay Parasher.
DR SANJAY PARASHER
On his social media feeds, Dr Parasher flaunts his wealth, driving luxury vehicles including a $370,000 Audi R8, as well as posting from airport first-class lounges or five-star resorts.
Before he was banned by the NDIS watchdog for three years in February, Dr Parasher bragged that he was the highest-paid podiatrist in Australia, and claimed to have made $8 million in one year thanks to his NDIS and Australian Defence Force clients, as well as rental incomes from his fast-growing property empire.
He also advertised NDIS holidays on a luxury resort on Hamilton Island, although it is not known whether anyone took up the offer.
Dr Parasher, 31, was born in Campbelltown. He was a star maths student and cricketer at school, but his progress as a bowler was curtailed by a severe ankle injury.
He studied health science and podiatric medicine at Western Sydney University.
Dr Parasher is a director of a 14 companies ranging from The Foot Specialist Australia Pty Ltd — trading as the Foot and Ankle Clinic — to The Parasher Pty Ltd and Gen Wealth Properties Pty Ltd.
His company, The Foot Specialist Australia — trading under the Foot and Ankle Clinic of Australia — has outlets across the country but has been banned from treating NDIS clients.
The regulator does not comment on bans, or the reasons why. Dr Parasher is banned from providing or managing NDIS supports, services, or funding, including as a key personnel, consultant, or auditor for NDIS providers.
But in the past it has been alleged the company created fake referrals and billed veterans for services not provided.
In response to these claims, Dr Parasher has previously denied any wrongdoing and on Instagram blamed his ban on the fact he had allowed NDIS participants to stay in his properties for free.
There are no criminal charges against him or his companies.
He gives as his current Sydney address a sprawling six-bedroom property at Leppington, valued at $4.6m, although for the last six months he has been in Dubai, bemoaning Australia for “holding him back” while criticising its “high taxes”. He claims he will move to Italy next.
“I left Australia after building my real-estate portfolio and scaling my Airbnbs to make over $100,000 per month in pure cash flow,” he wrote on Instagram.
“I wanted to expand, grow beyond my home country, and start a new journey.
“I knew deep down: I deserved more, and I deserved to be treated better.”
He has not yet replied to requests for comment.
JAIDEEP SINGH
Jaideep Singh, whose NDIS businesses allegedly funded $40m in assets, recently had luxury cars, such as a $230,000 Mercedes G-Wagon, seized in a raid by authorities.
The NSW Crime Commission then obtained restraining orders on 36 properties.
Mr Singh has been banned from the scheme for three years. It is understood authorities will claim the businesses defrauded the NDIS, including by billing for services to people in prison.
But he has not been charged with any offence.
COURTENEY REID
Courteney Reid, who operates NDIS company Vibrant Care, used a company account to splash out on a Louis Vuitton designer handbag, plastic surgery and $8000 of Qatar Airlines tickets, with enough left over to transfer more than $45,000 to her boyfriend, according to leaked bank statements and text messages.
In response to questions about her spending, Ms Reid said it was her money, adding: “If I want to buy myself a Louis Vuitton bag, I can, who are you or anyone else to tell me otherwise, that doesn’t make me a bad person.”
Ms Reid said that the NDIS cleared her after an audit and she was continuing to operate her business. She has denied any wrongdoing.
She has not been banned or charged with any offences. It’s not suggested Ms Reid engaged in criminal conduct or that her money comes any illegal activity.
AMIT SHARMA AND NIKITA PATEL
A disgraced NDIS provider who found himself before the courts was Amit Sharma, who admitted to soliciting the names and addresses of 18,500 NDIS participants from NDIA worker Leena Kumar, because he was “greedy”. He claimed never to have used the information. He is awaiting sentencing on three counts of soliciting disclosure of protected agency information, with the prosecution pushing for a jail term.
Sharma and his wife, Nikita Patel — who is the director of another company and also received private details of participants from the same source — lived a glamorous life as NDIS business owners, sponsoring glittering Bollywood events in Australia.
Their earnings afforded them a six-bed, four-bathroom Sydney mansion. Although it was put up for auction last year, with an advert saying, “Owners’ instructions. Must be sold!”, the couple still own the property.
Sharma and Ms Patel have been banned from working in the NDIS, but Ms Patel has not been charged with any wrongdoing or offences.
TAMARA BERRIDGE
Tamara Berridge is another NDIS provider who splashed the cash. She used more than $1m she fraudulently made through her cleaning business to pay for holidays and feed her gambling habit.
She was found guilty of deliberately claiming payment for household tasks and cleaning services knowing they were never provided to NDIS participants.
Meanwhile, a main player in a criminal syndicate had so much money from fraudulent NDIS claims he bought gold bars.
MOHAMMAD ALI MAHMOUD SALLAM
Husband and wife Mohammad Ali Mahmoud Sallam and Noura Bader, along with French national Jugurtha Zafrane, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to dishonestly obtain a gain from the Commonwealth to the tune of $5m.
Sallam, who prosecutors claimed played a starring role in the syndicate, deliberately defrauded the NDIS and the Australian Taxation Office and spent his ill gotten gains on more than half a kilo of gold, 40 kilos of silver and cryptocurrency.
‘ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FRAUD’
The agency running the NDIS said its actions show it has “zero tolerance for fraud”.
“The NDIA co-led Fraud Fusion Taskforce is catching criminals and providing a powerful deterrent for anyone who might seek to cheat the scheme,” a spokesperson said.
More than 1300 problematic providers had been detected through new payment integrity programs and removed from the scheme, the spokesperson added.
The Fraud Fusion Taskforce has undertaken 500 investigations since November 2022, and the watchdog issued 356 banning orders between July 2022 and the end of March 2025.