The family child care provider embroiled in a police raid and $5 million asset seizure can be revealed as a popular Perth-based business that has educators located across the city.
It was revealed last week that the Australian Federal Police seized a Caversham home and more than $4 million from two bank accounts owned by the provider after it suspected the money to be the proceeds of crime.
An investigation by The West Australian has uncovered the seized home is owned by Awil Abdullahi Liban, who is also listed as the owner of WA Multicultural Family Day Care.
The business, which the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority says was granted approval to operate in 2013, is listed as operating from Victoria Road in Malaga.
A worker at a nearby business told The West the car park outside the Malaga address was flooded by police when he arrived at work about 9am on Wednesday.
“I turned up and there were probably about eight people with forensic-labelled vests on in the car park,” he said.
“About half an hour later, they all went upstairs to their office and throughout the day we saw all sorts of people coming, including the AFP.”
The worker said the officers were inside the Malaga address for several hours.
“It looked like 15 or so officers came and went throughout the day, the car park was full of cars coming and going,” he said.
“I left at 4.30pm that night and the majority of them were still there.”
The West sought comment from the owner without success.
The family appear to still be living at the Caversham home, despite the AFP seizing the newly-built house last week, with a young woman answering the door to The West but declining to comment.
She did not deny the family were at the centre of a police investigation.
The investigation — a joint probe between the Commonwealth Department of Education and the AFP and codenamed Operation Velo — allegedly uncovered the family day care service provider was coordinating false childcare subsidy claims.
Mr Liban regularly used his company’s Facebook page to post what their “educators” were up to, including celebrating Sustainability Week and Science Week.
He also used the Facebook page to post a letter he wrote to then-Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese in 2020.
In the letter, Mr Liban requested he reach out to the family day care sector in relation to a planned new child care package.
Mr Liban’s LinkedIn page states he previously worked at the Department of Human Services as a multicultural service officer for seven years before setting up his child care business in 2013.
Mr Liban hit back at a disgruntled customer on Google five years ago when they gave the company a one-star review and said they’d been “left hanging for three weeks”.
“I feel so stupid wasting my time, driving up to the office, ringing the office, Awil (never got back to me),” they wrote.
“I rang the office and half the time nobody picks up and when someone does, he’s not in the office. No professionalism at all.”
Mr Liban hit back at the review, claiming the business “cannot compromise the rules and regulations”.
“By the book,” he added.
A Department of Education spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment while the investigation was ongoing. No charges have been laid.
The spokesman said there had been several successful prosecutions for child care fraud nationally and non-compliant providers have had their approval to manage child care subsidy cancelled, suspended or had conditions imposed on their approval.
“From July 1, 2023, all Child Care Subsidy gap fees must be paid by electronic funds transfer. A new audit program will crack down on providers who are not collecting gap fees or fraudulently claiming the subsidy when they are not providing care for children,” the spokesman said.
He said several other compliance investigations were currently underway in WA.
“The Department of Education takes all allegations of fraud and non-compliance seriously and uses sophisticated data and intelligence techniques to prevent and detect this type of activity,” he said.