A couple jailed for their role in a $380,000 benefit scam had their appeal dismissed this morning.
Sydney Phillip Thompson, 51, and Janlyn Maryanne Duzevich, 54, of Auckland, were each sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to obtaining money by deception.
They defrauded Work and Income for four years from 2009 by helping beneficiaries apply for financial assistance using fake documents, and then splitting the money with the applicants.
They were charged in April 2013 and pleaded guilty in March last year.
In appealing their sentence the pair argued they had already paid back some of the money and the judge had not given them enough credit for pleading guilty or for Thompson's remorse.
