Tradie Charged With Fraud For Allegedly Pretending He Had Covid-19 To Get Off Work

A young tradesman has been charged with fraud for allegedly pretending he had the coronavirus to get off work.

New South Wales Police have issued a statement explaining how the 23-year-old is accused of sending his boss a text message at 4am on Monday (August 2) telling them he had contracted Covid-19.

Police will allege the tradie said he wasn't able to go into work as a result and needed to isolate.

Later that day, the man is accused of sending another text message to his boss saying he had recorded a negative result after getting a second test.

NSW Police said in a statement: "His co-workers were stood down and self-isolated while awaiting their test results, and several locations near his place of employment required deep cleaning."

"Subsequent inquiries confirmed the man never received a positive test result.

"The matter was referred to the NSW Police Force, with officers attached to Wollongong Police District commencing an investigation.

"About 1pm yesterday (Thursday 5 August 2021), the man attended Wollongong Police Station, where he was arrested and charged with conveying false information that a person or property is in danger."

The man is now reportedly facing up to five years behind bars if he's convicted and given the maximum sentence.

NSW Acting Superintendent Brad Ainsworth explained the man allegedly confessed the nature of the tests when speaking to NSW Health.

He told 2GB Radio: "He just folded. He agreed he had stuffed up and created a lot of issues and drama. Not only himself, but for his workmates and for the company and up there at Newcastle."

The man has been granted bail and will appear in Wollongong Local Court next month.

The charges came on the same day New South Wales recorded the highest daily jump in Covid-19 cases since the outbreak began.

A whopping 291 new cases have been recorded since yesterday after more than 109,500 tests.

There are 304 people in hospitals across the state battling coronavirus at the moment and 50 of those are in ICU.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie