Wairarapa chef abused trust

"You have tainted deserving beneficiaries," a judge has told a Martinborough mother of five who claimed benefits she wasn't entitled to.

Judge Bill Hastings made the comment in the Masterton District Court earlier this week during sentencing of Susanne Lynn Martin on six benefit fraud charges relating to a period between 2008 and 2013 in Palmerston North and Martinborough where she was working and living with her husband Christopher Martin.

The 40-year-old chef previously pleaded guilty to one charge of dishonestly using a document for pecuniary advantage, two of wilful omission and three of obtaining by deception. She stole $57,000 from the Ministry of Social Development over a six-year period.

Martin filled in annual review documents for her Domestic Purposes Benefit between 2008 and 2013 stating she wasn't working when she was and that she wasn't living with anyone in the nature of a marriage when she was living with her husband. Beneficiaries are required to notify Work and Income if their circumstances change.

Defence lawyer Virginia Pearson said Martin was struggling financially at the time of her offending with her husband, who had a gambling problem, coming and going and not providing money to support the family.

"Financially and psychologically she was struggling and stressed."

Ms Pearson submitted community detention was a suitable sentence for her client so she could continue working and looking after her five children.

Ministry prosecutor Anitesh Govind submitted an appropriate sentence was imprisonment but home detention was suitable. He was seeking reparation for the full amount defrauded by Martin.

Judge Hastings said reparation needed to be "realistic" and it would take 109 years for Martin to pay back the total amount at $10 weekly.

He said the duration of the offending was an aggravating feature.

"When you were spoken to you said you did not want to lose your benefit ... this type of offending is manifestly easy to do. It can continue for long periods before being detected, increasing the community's losses."

There was an element of trust between the ministry and clients, which was reliant on "honesty and trust" and Martin had abused that trust, Judge Hastings said.

"This was not a victimless crime ... you violated that trust. You made every taxpayer in New Zealand a victim. They then have to pay more money into the system so deserving beneficiaries can be paid, as a result of your offending "

Martin was sentenced to five months' home detention, ordered to complete 250 hours' community work and pay reparation of $20,000 at $10 per week. Judge Hastings said the ministry could take civil action to recover the rest of the money.

"This was not passive offending. It was habitual and repetitive offending for financial gain at the community's expense committed over an extended period of time. This went on for years," the judge said.