Hamilton woman sentenced for benefit fraud she didn’t need to commit

Tamara Ohlson-Pitman received benefits she wasn't entitled to and has to repay $19,654.99.

A young woman who defrauded the Ministry of Social Development of more than $60,000 later found out she would have been eligible for other benefits if she had been honest with them.

Tamara Ohlson-Pitman, of Hamilton, was granted the domestic purposes benefit (DPB) on December 19, 2012, and briefly cancelled it on November 11, 2019, before reapplying for the sole parent benefit a month later.

But it was not until 2021 that the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) uncovered her deception, worth $64,624.13, which included the benefits and winter energy payments.

When she was interviewed in April of that year, she said she was aware of her obligations and admitted she had not advised that her children were no longer in her care.

She said she intended to continue to help support them, but then their father stopped providing her with bills to pay.

As a result of MSD inquiries, it was found she had not had her children in her care since March 2017.

But had Ohlson-Pitman advised the ministry of her true circumstances she might have received the jobseekers benefit over that period, totalling $44,969.14.

The ministry has deducted that figure from the total monies owed and she was now repaying the outstanding $19,654.99.

But she still had criminal charges to answer to.

The 30-year-old appeared in the Hamilton District Court last week for sentencing on two charges each of obtaining by deception and using a document for pecuniary advantage.

Ohlson-Pitman’s counsel Hayden Bell said she had been having counselling and urged Judge Philip Crayton to hand down a sentence of supervision and community detention so she could keep her job.

‘Taking money away from those who really need it’

Judge Philip Crayton said benefit fraud was the type of crime that offended against her own community.

“It takes money away from those who really need it and it means that every person who is seeking the assistance which they should get from the Government, they come under suspicion and of course, that of itself brings about feelings of guilt for them.

“This is offending which dates back several years and as a consequence you received and you are about to repay, a very large amount of money.”

He noted she had a positive pre-sentence report but most importantly she had not looked to pass the blame onto anyone else or sought to divert responsibility.

“You have reconnected with family and support and that is vitally important, and you have a job.”

Judge Crayton sentenced Ohlson-Pitman to 12 months’ supervision and six months’ community detention.

“You do not want to be coming back before the court for this type of offending or any type of offending,” he told her.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20.