The first person charged with ripping off the wage subsidy scheme has pleaded guilty in the Auckland District Court.
This morning Mt Eden man Saleem Adbdul, 40, pleaded guilty to three charges of receiving stolen property relating to $18,745 of wage subsidy payments claimed during lockdowns in 2020.
Abdul is described in charging documents as a "senior technical consultant", and records the wage subsidy funds were paid into his personal bank accounts.
Charges were laid by the Ministry of Social Development, the government agency responsible for administering the wage subsidy scheme intended to maintain pay cheques during period of work stoppages during Covid lockdowns.
The case is understood to be the first criminal prosecution relating to improper access to the "high trust" subsidy scheme that saw $14 billion paid out to employers during 2020. The Herald is aware of at least one other prosecution of dishonest use of the scheme working its way through the courts.