A man who lodged dozens of fraudulent JobKeeper applications during the pandemic has been jailed for trying to defraud taxpayers of nearly $500,000.

Blake Grough, 35, pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to attempting and obtaining financial advantage by deception.

The Australian Taxation Office and Australian Federal Police began investigating Grough in June 2020 after he was linked to several suspicious claims, including 40 fraudulent JobKeeper applications.

The value of the fraudulent claims totalled $492,957.

The AFP arrested Grough at his Wheelers Hill home in February and charged him with the deception offences.

He was jailed for three years and six months on Thursday for defrauding the ATO of nearly $35,000 and attempting to defraud a further $458,000.

He will be eligible for parole after two years and three months.

Grough’s sentence was a warning to those seeking to steal from the Commonwealth and Australian taxpayers, AFP Detective Superintendent Bernard Geason said.

“The JobKeeper payments were designed to assist people during a pandemic and in turn, protect our community,” he said.

“With so many Australians doing it tough, it is more important than ever that we seek out those who heap the burden of crime on the public.”

-AAP