A school principal and the director of a building company have been charged for allegedly stealing almost $1.4 million intended for schools in Sydney.
Police began a major investigation, with assistance from the NSW Department of Education, into the alleged mismanagement of funds meant for maintenance and building at schools in Guildford and Revesby in April.
Sir Joseph Banks High School Principal Rabieh Gharibeh and contractor Ahmed Charchouh were arrested this morning on accusations they worked to facilitate fraudulent claims.
Both men are alleged to be known to each other.
Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja alleged the men fraudulently claimed almost $1.4 million from the Department of Education through 86 separate invoices between August 2022 and November 2024.
“The senior employee had financial delegation up to $150,000 so police will allege that he abused that financial delegation and that position of financial trust,” he said.
“The activity that police are alleging is between August 2022 and November this year and the senior employee was employed at both of those schools during that time.”
Arbinja said the $1.4 million allegedly stolen was distributed between the pair, with $900,000 going to Gharibeh and $500,000 to Charchouh.
“The invoices were either split, so they could get under a certain financial delegation for under $150,000,” he said.
“They would raise purchase orders before works were even done, and backdated invoices were sometimes paid prior to the works.
“Some invoices were submitted and no works were ever done. If works were ever done, they were at a highly inflated price.”
The NSW Department of Education said it takes these matters very seriously.
“The Department of Education upholds high professional and ethical standards and takes any allegation of criminal activity extremely seriously,” a spokesperson said.
“It would be inappropriate to comment on a matter before the courts.”
Early this morning, officers stormed properties in Georges Hall and Yagoona and the school in Revesby.
They seized $42,400 in cash, a ballistics vest and luxury watches.
Gharibeh and Charchouh were both arrested and taken to Bankstown Police Station, where they were each charged with 60 offences.
As a result of their arrests, Arbinja said police were able to stop $165,000 worth of alleged fraud from going through.
Detectives are now working to recover as much of the allegedly defrauded $1.4 million as possible.
Investigations are continuing and more arrests are expected to be made.
The two men faced Bankstown Local Court today.
The magistrate denied Charchouh’s application for bail saying there was an unacceptable risk for contamination of evidence, describing the alleged fraud as a “chronic, sustained criminal enterprise”.
Gharibeh did not apply for bail.
