A Queensland man has been charged for allegedly fraudulently assigning demerit points to unsuspecting people.
Queensland Police Service officers arrested the 26-year-old man in Warwick on August 8, and he’s been granted bail to reappear in Warwick Magistrates Court on October 23.
He allegedly advertised on social media that he would cop demerit points in exchange for money.
However, instead of having these applied to his driving record, he would allegedly sign the ticket over to an unsuspecting third party who was the victim of identity theft.
He has been charged with one count of carrying on the business of fraud and attempting to pervert the course of justice, as well as three counts of obtaining identification information.
The Warwick man was caught up in Operation Blot, run jointly by officers from the Road Policing Investigations Unit and detectives from the Cybercrime Unit.
“Inquiries were commenced after one of the alleged victims of crime contacted police regarding $20,000 worth of fines he had received,” said Acting Chief Superintendent Janelle Andrews of the Road Policing Group.
“The subsequent investigation uncovered what is alleged to be an illegal business enterprise, operating for at least three years, involving more than 200 camera-detected offence notices worth approximately $141,000 in fines and 695 demerit points.”
The Queensland Police Service has warned that engaging in fraudulent demerit point exchanges online doesn’t grant you anonymity, and that its investigators are seeking out offenders.
Acting Chief Superintendent Andrews said many buyers of these services are people who should have their licences suspended but are still on the road.
“This man has allegedly attempted to undermine the integrity of the road safety system in Queensland by allowing the actual drivers involved in these infringement offences to escape penalty,” she said.
“People may see this sort of thing as a victimless crime, but the demerit point penalty system is in place to ensure that drivers who commit offences on the road are incentivised to improve their driving behaviour.”
Such schemes aren’t limited to the Sunshine State.
Transport for NSW, NSW Police, and Revenue NSW recently teamed up for a taskforce to crack down on drivers exploiting the demerit point system south of the border.
The taskforce will look at drivers racking up unusually high numbers of demerits, and aim to deter those selling demerit points on online platforms such as Facebook Marketplace.
The Government says it’s looking at a tiny fraction of the state’s 6.9 million driver’s licence holders – just 0.005 per cent – who have 20 or more demerit points.
Additionally, the Taskforce will review the suitability of current penalties and suspensions, as well as who is eligible to opt for a good behaviour period in lieu of a suspension.
MORE: Australian state cracking down on dodgy demerit point swapping
