A Victorian man has been convicted of fraudulently receiving more than $18,000 in injury compensation payments and ordered to pay back the full amount to WorkSafe Victoria.

The Dandenong Magistrates Court last week also fined Mandeep Singh $1200 for his offence and ordered him to pay costs of $1742.

A statement from WorkSafe says the fraud was uncovered in August 2019 after an investigation found Mr Singh earned more than $26,000 running his own courier delivery business while also getting support payments from the agency.

He was previously working for a meat company but had to stop in 2016 after injuring his ankle and back in a fall.

He repeatedly failed to declare his courier business and continued to take the weekly payments from WorkSafe.

“The vast majority of injured workers are doing the right thing, but it’s disappointing that a small minority think they can cheat the system,” WorkSafe Insurance Business Unit Executive Director Roger Arnold said.

“Those who try to defraud the system for their own benefit will be held to account.”