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One of New Zealand's biggest ever fraudsters says he wants to go straight - with help from the government ministry he ripped off.
Wayne Thomas Patterson, 48, used 123 different identities between 2003 and 2006 to defraud the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) of $3.48 million in welfare benefits.
In October he was sentenced to an eight-year jail term, with a minimum non-parole period of five years.
He is currently appealing his sentence, but papers released today by MSD, under the Official Information Act, show a remorseful Patterson wants the ministry's help to turn around his life of crime.
They also show the profit from Patterson's investments have almost earned the Government $1 million - a jump of $400,000 since he was sentenced.
In response to a letter from MSD chief executive Peter Hughes, seeking to ensure Patterson understood his offending and offering to help find him a legal job after prison, the fraudster said he had been studying for that purpose and would appreciate help.
"Hopefully this will enhance my employment prospects upon my release," he said in a neatly handwritten letter.
"My main concern is that due to my past convictions it may be difficult to find an employer willing to take me on.
"I appreciate your offer of help in finding employment and would welcome any help you may be able to provide."
Mr Hughes, who today briefed a parliamentary committee on the audacious identity fraud, said he welcomed Patterson's commitment, but it was hard to take it at face value given a long criminal career.
He said MSD was confident there were no similar large-scale frauds occurring and had spent about $1 million on measures to make sure they did not occur in the future.
The measures included manually checking all applications against the births register, requiring a higher level of photo ID and better training for frontline staff.
MSD deputy chief executive Doug Craig also revealed that Kiwibank had first become suspicious of Patterson's numerous accounts under false names when it realised several accounts were being regularly accessed from just two internet addresses.
It was revealed in October the bank had notified MSD of the suspicious transactions under the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, sparking an intensive month-long 24-hour a day investigation that eventually culminated in Patterson's arrest.
The papers released today also show that Patterson's investments have made even more money for the government while MSD has been going through the legal process of recovering the stolen funds.
At sentencing the funds he stole had grown from $3.48 million to $3.9 million.
By January they had grown to $4.33 million - largely on the back of a spike in the price of gold as a result of the international credit crunch.
Patterson had about $900,000 in gold bullion, which has since leapt in value to about $1.2 million.
Patterson's other local assets also rose by $81,000 and investments in Austria and Switzerland rose by $52,000.
The papers show that the Austrians and Swiss have resisted the repatriation of those funds, but are expected to do so once all Patterson's appeals have been exhausted.
- NZPA
