Drury Man Sentenced for $180k in Wage Subsidy Fraud

Jerome Jaime Leigh Smith, 26, pled guilty to submitting 94 fraudulent wage subsidy applications between March 2020 and October 2022.

Of those, 62 applications were approved, resulting in payments totalling $132,109.20, all of which he was not entitled to receive.

Smith applied for wage subsidies in his own name as a sole trader despite not operating a business, and as an employer for Jay & Co Catering (trading as Herb’s Kitchen) and Jays Ika Limited.

Across these applications, he repeatedly listed the same four individuals as full‑time employees.

MSD’s investigation found that only one of the individuals named was legitimately a full‑time employee. Others were casual or part‑time employees who were claimed at full‑time wage subsidy rates.

Smith submitted overlapping applications across multiple entities, effectively claiming wage subsidies for the same people at the same time across different employers.

The court heard that much of the subsidy money was not passed on to the workers named in applications, as required. Instead, the funds were either only partially distributed or used by Smith for his own purposes.

Smith also submitted forged documents to support Leave Support payments, including a fake medical certificate and false text messages purporting to confirm positive COVID‑19 tests.

These documents were used to justify additional payments that were not legitimately owed.

In addition to the successful claims, Smith made 32 further fraudulent applications that were declined, seeking an additional $51,311.60.

Smith later admitted that most of his applications were false and that the supporting documents had been forged.

District Court Judge Nicola Mathers gave credit for a guilty plea, previous good character and voluntary community work Smith has been doing.

MSD was granted full reparation of $132,109.20 as part of sentencing.  This was the total amount obtained dishonestly.

Smith had no previous convictions.

A total of 71 people have been sentenced in wage subsidy cases, and another 39 people are still before the courts as part of MSD’s programme of work on wage subsidy fraud and integrity. Since the scheme started, more than $836 million* in wage subsidies has been repaid.

For more information about the Wage Subsidy Integrity and Fraud Programme please see here.

*Figures at 31 March 2026