Serial scammer caring for vulnerable kids on suspended Blue Card

A woman who has been exposed for faking terminal illnesses and lying about being assaulted has been caught working with children for an NDIS disability service, despite being banned from child-related work.

Jaimie Winder, who also uses the surname Wrigley, is under investigation by the NDIS for continuing to care for disabled minors and adults.

The UK citizen’s Blue Card was suspended in November last year, yet records show she continued to provide one-on-one support for NDIS participants, including an eight-year-old and a 13-year-old boy, until at least last month.

Under Queensland law, working with children without valid screening is a criminal offence carrying up to five years in prison.

Now based in Brisbane, Winder served as the sole director of NDIS-registered provider Easy Planning Pty Ltd until June – seven months after her card was revoked.

While she remains the sole shareholder through another company, Enriched Pathways Pty Ltd, former staff allege she continues to be heavily involved in daily operations.

The 40-year-old has a history of feeding people elaborate and awful stories.

In 2023, A Current Affair revealed she spent several years falsely claiming to suffer from terminal cancer, organ failure, and sepsis across Mount Isa and Perth, convincing friends and colleagues to take her on “end-of-life” trips and providing round-the-clock care.

This week, former colleague Sulett Van Wyk told A Current Affair she ended an 11-month friendship with Winder after discovering she had lied about being assaulted and invented a story about an ex-husband who had died.

Now, another former colleague has warned that her lies have put vulnerable children directly in harm’s way.

A month ago, former Easy Planning support worker Bayleigh Weeks lodged a formal complaint with Queensland Police and Blue Card Services after she discovered Winder was caring for minors without Working With Children credentials.

“It should have stopped years ago, and now it’s got to this extreme, and it’s still continuing, but this time there are children actively involved in it,” Weeks said.

“She does not have a Blue Card. She is a pathological liar, yet she’s out in the community and nobody is doing anything about this.”

During a recorded confrontation regarding the situation, Winder urged Weeks to cover up her employment involving children.

“All I ask is that you don’t say anything about my Blue Card,” she is recorded as saying. “Cause nobody has been told that I’ve been working without my Blue Card.”

According to Weeks, Winder treated the disability scheme as a cash cow, frequently talking about finding “high-rolling clients”.

Weeks claims Winder would spend entire weekends with one of the boys, offering “respite care” as a break for his family, generating an additional NDIS windfall.

“She’d be charging the max, which is about $16,000, for respite for a weekend,” Weeks said.

Documents submitted to authorities detail multiple incidents in which minors’ safety was compromised. In one, traffic safety cameras captured a 13-year-old boy travelling without a seatbelt in Winder’s vehicle.

Weeks also alleged witnessing Winder taking drugs inside a home during an overnight respite shift while a young participant slept in the next room.

Text messages between Winder and Weeks further show her disparaging clients, describing a woman with physical disabilities as a “bitch” whom she wanted to “f---ing poke”.

Weeks’ work exposing Winder’s conduct began after she became aware of her original appearance on A Current Affair. All of her evidence has been handed to authorities.

A spokesperson for the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission said it took reports of misconduct and the safety of NDIS participants very seriously and was looking into the matter.

“All NDIS participants have the right to receive safe, respectful and good-quality supports and services,” they said.

“The NDIS commission will not hesitate to take action against providers and workers who fail to meet these obligations.”

The Queensland government said it was delivering the strongest child protection reforms in the country to make Queensland kids safer.

“Blue Card Services takes all reports or risks of harm to children seriously and investigates all information of concern,” said a Justice Department spokesperson.

“Where Blue Card Services believes there has been a potential breach of Blue Card requirements that is considered high risk, the matter is referred to Queensland Police for investigation.”

Winder did not respond to questions regarding this story.

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Dan Nolan is a senior reporter at A Current Affair in Queensland.