A Te Puke woman has admitted stealing more than $54,000 in rent rebates over eight years after repeatedly failing to tell her Housing New Zealand landlord that she had a partner.
Kathleen Maree Collier, 44, pleaded guilty to 11 charges of using a document for pecuniary advantage in Tauranga Community Magistrate's court yesterday - each charge attracts a maximum sentence of seven years' prison.
The charges stem from Collier's completion of 11 applications for rental assistance between January 2005 and December 2011, resulting in an overpayment of $54,480.
Collier originally denied her offending when questioned by a corporation investigator.
Her guilty pleas come on the heels of the Government's announcement plans to crack down on the partners of welfare cheats by a law change which would make them also liable for prosecution.