Woman gets community detention for fraud

File photo / NZH

An Auckland woman was today sentenced to five months' community detention and 200 hours' community work for fraudulently obtaining more than $60,000 worth of Family Assistance refunds.

Faagata Crichton was sentenced in Auckland District Court after earlier pleading guilty to four charges of using a document to gain pecuniary advantage and eight charges of using a document with intent to defraud.

Inland Revenue Department assurance investigations manager Jonathan Matthews said Crichton knowingly applied for Family Assistance refunds, now known as Working for Families tax credits, she was not entitled to.

"Crichton tried to cheat the tax system and now faces the consequences of her actions," he said after sentencing.

Crichton made fraudulent claims over a number of years totalling $62,689.

In 2008 Inland Revenue interviewed Crichton, who admitted using different IRD numbers to fraudulently gain extra family assistance payments.

Crichton later admitted a further 12 charges of falsely claiming Family Assistance. These included claiming for a child that did not have residency, declaring a lower income than what was received to increase family assistance rates and claiming for a child that had left her care.

- NZPA