KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's biggest benefit fraudster has had his appeal for a lighter sentence rejected by the Court of Appeal.
Wayne Thomas Patterson was jailed for eight years after he pleaded guilty in the High Court in Auckland last year to using 123 different identities to con the Ministry of Social Development out of $3.48m between 2003 and 2006.
Patterson lived in a flat in the Auckland suburb of Massey and when it was searched last year $868,000 in cash and gold ingots worth $355,000 were found.
In the Court of Appeal in Auckland earlier this month his lawyer Chris Tennet said Patterson's sentence was excessive.
He did not get enough credit for co-operating with authorities, or his early guilty plea, he said.
Patterson said the sentence adopted by Justice Peter Woodhouse had been too high and had not taken into account the stolen money had been recovered.
The Court of Appeal said Justice Woodhouse had taken into account Patterson's guilty pleas, but did not consider him to be remorseful.
It said while the crown had recovered the money, there had been no voluntary reparation by Patterson, which could have suggested remorse.
The Court of Appeal said "while the crown had been successful in recovering the money stolen, that is no thanks to Mr Patterson".
It rejected the idea that Patterson's offending had been "victimless" because it had been against the state, rather than individuals.
T he Court of Appeal said Patterson's sentence was appropriate.
- NZPA
