A man who pretended to be a physiotherapist, Carlos Adelino Henrique Ferreira, 59, has also been handed a six-year sentence for orchestrating a complex scheme involving a staggering $400,000 involving fraud and money laundering.
His actions, revealed in a Brisbane court, unveiled a meticulous plan to manipulate cash systems during his four-year tenure as a manager at a BP station in Brisbane’s BP Milton. During this time, Ferreira directed staff to sidestep reconciling tills, disregarding established company protocols.
Instead, he opted to avoid securing money in the designated safe, instructing employees to deposit funds into a secondary safe accessible only by him and another manager. False reports were fabricated to camouflage the unaccounted funds and portray a misleading sense of balance in the tills.
Aside from the station fraud, Ferreira engaged in a separate deceitful practice, deliberately recording lower sales amounts for cigarette transactions, pocketing over $10,000. These ill-gotten gains found their way into his personal bank accounts via an ATM near the service station.
Laundering nearly $200,000 over five years, Ferreira’s scheme included siphoning funds from the Brisbane Athletic Football Club, where he held the position of president. The discovery of discrepancies in the service station’s financial records occurred during Ferreira’s absence on leave, leading to his subsequent arrest.
Shockingly, investigations uncovered that he falsely presented himself as a qualified physiotherapist, attempting to secure a lease at a Burpengary health clinic and promoting services online using fraudulent documents. Thankfully, authorities intervened before any patient consultations took place.
Ferreira’s tumultuous past, fleeing Portugal with his family at 18, was cited as a contributing factor to his actions. Personal hardships, including the breakdown of his marriage and financial strain, compounded his difficulties.
Despite lacking a criminal history before his arrest, the judge expressed doubt about Ferreira’s prospects for rehabilitation, given the gravity of his actions and breach of trust. Judge Jennifer Rosengren handed down a stern sentence of six years in prison, with parole eligibility in September 2025, following a minimum of 20 months served.
Published 21-December-2023
