Overweight fraudster blames gastric ban surgery for fraud

Overweight fraudster blames gastric band surgery for ripping off $300,000 from agency dedicated to helping disabled Australians and blowing the money on property and a $64,000 Mercedes van

  • Mitchell Landry, 24, ripped off more than $300,000 from disability scheme
  • Landry pretended to carry out mowing services for disabled people to get cash 
  • The fraudster suggested a gastric band operation caused him to commit crimes
  • Landry pretended to mow lawns for 100 hours a week in another state to his own
  • The perverted crook once filmed his tenant with a camera hidden in a light globe 

An overweight man claims an operation he had to help him lose weight contributed to a nasty scheme that saw him rip off a government agency that assists disabled Australians. 

Mitchell Landry, 24, of Ocean Grove in Victoria’s south, stole $321,940 from the National Disability Insurance Agency by pretending to mow lawns for disabled people. 

Landry pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the County Court of Victoria to ripping off the government agency and attempting to rip it off from a further $156,338. 

Mitchell Landry, 24, of Ocean Grove, started committing offences after having an operation to help him lose weight

Mitchell Landry pretended to cut the lawns of disabled people and then claimed back cash for work he never actually did

Mitchell Landry pretended to cut the lawns of disabled people and then claimed back cash for work he never actually did 

Landry’s barrister, Charles Morgan, told Chief Judge Peter Kidd his client had been recovering from a gastric band operation when he committed the offences. 

‘He had a weight issue, he attended to that around this time and got a gastric band and was recuperating. It was at that period he committed this offending,’ Mr Morgan said. 

Mr Morgan described his client’s offending as ‘unsophisticated’, labelling his scam to defraud the NDIA as ‘absurd’. 

The court heard the then 20-year old, who was residing in Bendigo in country Victoria, had invoiced the agency for up to 100-hours a week for lawn mowing services in New South Wales.

‘That is far from sophisticated. That is immature in the extreme,’ Mr Morgan said. 

Judge Kidd heard Landry had blown the money on various properties and a fancy Mercedes van worth $64,000. 

Despite spending the cash on funding his exorbitant lifestyle, Mr Morgan submitted Landry had been trying to show-off to his parents, whom his client claimed had all but abandoned him as a child. 

‘He wanted to show his family he could make it on his own,’ he said. 

The court heard Landry had received a previous community based order for ripping off government agencies, but because he committed those offences after his disability scam was discovered, they would not be treated as prior offences. 

Mitchell Landry, 24, of Ocean Grove, pleaded guilty to placing a spy camera in a rental property

Mitchell Landry, 24, of Ocean Grove, pleaded guilty to placing a spy camera in a rental property

Judge Peter Kidd, who presided over the Cardinal George Pell case, will sentence Landry next month

Judge Peter Kidd, who presided over the Cardinal George Pell case, will sentence Landry next month 

In February last year, a Bendigo court heard Landry had secretly filmed a tenant in the bathroom of one of his rental properties. 

Police also found 63 images of child abuse material and 99 other illegal images on an Ipad he owned.

Landry pleaded guilty then to stalking, installing and maintaining a device to record private activity, using a device to record private activity, possessing child abuse material, three counts of obtaining property by deception, two counts of attempting to obtain property by deception, fraud and attempted fraud. 

During that hearing, the court was told Landry had ‘a complete and utter fascination with money’.

Mr Morgan told Judge Kidd Landry was a high functioning autistic, but provided no evidence to back it up. 

The court heard Landry had paid back all but about $21,000 of the stolen money.  

Judge Kidd adjourned the matter to allow Landry to be properly assessed before sentencing him next month.