A man has been arrested and charged over an alleged estimated $1.3m fraud involving fruit growers in the state’s Far West.
Detectives from Barrier Police District Rural Crime Prevention Team commenced an investigation after receiving information that a business at Trentham Cliffs, near the NSW-Victorian border, had allegedly been defrauded over the sale of fruit from local orchards for more than six years.
Strike Force Hanrahan was established to investigate the allegations, and about 11am today (Wednesday 1 December 2021), a search warrant was executed at a home in Wentworth, assisted by officers attached to the Rural Crime Prevention Team (RCPT), Dareton Criminal Investigations, as well as the Dareton and Broken Hill Proactive Crime Team.
A 58-year-old man was arrested at the scene and multiple items were seized for forensic examination.
The man was taken to Dareton Police Station where he was charged with 60 counts of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception.
He has been granted conditional bail to appear in Wentworth Local Court on Tuesday 1 January 2021.
