Midwife guilty of $357k fraud has registration cancelled

A midwife who defrauded the Ministry of Health of hundreds of thousands of dollars has had her registration cancelled. Photo / File

A former midwife who defrauded the Ministry of Health of more than $357,000 by creating false records for five women and 120 babies has had her registration cancelled.

Last year Hamilton midwife Pania Lee Nin, 44, admitted to and was sentenced to two years and four months imprisonment on two representative charges of making or obtaining by deception a pecuniary advantage.

The court found that Nin falsely created records for two women and 55 babies that did not exist to gain $151,080 of payments from the Ministry of Health between April 28, 2008 and September 30, 2011.

In September 2014, she moved to Brisbane where she submitted more claims for payments totalling $206,059.09 by falsely creating records for another three women and 65 babies that did not exist up until December 2015.

The Ministry of Health began an investigation into her claims for payment last year and found she did not have an annual practising certificate and had been submitting claims while living in Brisbane.

When interviewed by the Ministry of Health Nin admitted she contacted the National Health Index Services at the Ministry of Health and obtained National Health Index numbers for non-existent mothers and babies in order to make payment claims.

She also admitted she did not pay GST to Inland Revenue on any of those claims.

Nin said she did not know why she did it and that she spent the money on "living costs".

The Ministry of Health said she was remorseful and was co-operative throughout the investigation.

In August this year the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal found her conduct reflected adversely on her fitness to practise as a midwife, censured her and cancelled her registration.

They also ordered that she pay $4242 as a contribution to the tribunal's costs and $750 as a contribution to the Professional Conduct Committee's costs.

Nin was released from jail on September 25 and is now on parole.

She had also successfully appealed the judge's decision she pay back all the money she stole and the matter is now subject to a rehearing.

Nin, who is subject to parole conditions, was remanded on further bail to reappear in December after a rehearing was adjourned last month.

In her parole board decision, Nin said she realised that she had previously made up "excuses" for what she did, "but today she fully acknowledges that she offended out of a sense of self-entitlement and greed".

"Her previous explanation about needing to support a family, she now recognises, was just an excuse."

After completing a course in prison, Nin told the board she was now able to identify the patterns and behaviour that led to her offending.

The report noted that Nin had been working in the prison kitchen and had completed a barista course.

She was active with the church, through which she hoped to have counselling.

The board was satisfied that, with the work she had done in prison, Nin no longer posed a risk to the community.