The mother of Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni and her partner have admitted 23 benefit fraud charges totalling nearly $100,000.
Beverley Anne Sepuloni and partner Michael Charles Rangi entered guilty pleas to the charges, committed over more than a decade until last year, when they appeared before Judge Allan Roberts in the New Plymouth District Court today.
![Beverley Anne Sepuloni (left) and her supporters leave New Plymouth Courthouse.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/2G25E6TZPE6MHWKE5DOILL5BDA.jpg?auth=10f5caeb70bd49888226d5b9e82b48dd7a126b2aabb45374e60bec7986cedc13&width=16&height=21&quality=70&smart=true)
The charges arose from neither defendant informing government agencies that they commenced a relationship in October, 2003.
The court heard that Rangi was on the dole and also getting an accommodation supplement, while Sepuloni was on a sickness benefit and getting an income-related rental rate for her Housing NZ house.