Three women separately accused of fraudulently obtaining thousands of dollars' worth of bushfire and COVID-19 recovery grants have been refused bail in a Hunter Valley court.
Earlier this month, a 32-year-old woman in the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre was charged with eight counts of dishonestly obtain financial benefit by deception.
Police allege she fraudulently obtained six NSW Government grants totalling $60,000.
"We will allege that the offences occurred between April 1 and June 1 last year," Hunter Valley Police District crime manager Detective Inspector Matt Zimmer said.
"Between April 1 and May 29 last year, we will allege she made six applications to the amount of $60,000, each of those applications being fraudulent.
The three women were charged as part of Strike Force Roche, which was established by several police districts to investigate allegations of fraudulent claims for bushfire disaster relief and small business grants.
The investigations are ongoing.
"We believe that this sort of fraudulent activity was widespread right across NSW throughout this period," Detective Inspector Zimmer said.
"It's just a shame that people take advantage of government schemes designed to help vulnerable communities, taking that money away or delaying processes for people who are genuinely in need."
