Childcare manager faces jail over false claims

By ALAN PERROTT

Clumsy attempts to claim taxpayer funding for fictitious children have landed the manager of an Auckland childcare centre with a jail sentence and a reparations bill of $50,000.

Dale Mihi Boyce, aged 41, was the manager and licensee at Manurewa bilingual centre Kiddie Kapers Akonga in February 2000, when Ministry of Education officials arrived to audit her funding claims.

An initial audit found that Boyce had falsely claimed for 7876 hours of childcare, worth $28,682, between June 1 and September 30 1999.

Further audits for the remainder of 1999 uncovered another $45,880 in false claims.

The centre had also fraudulently claimed the highest "quality" funding rate, which is paid if a suitably qualified staff member is on duty at all times.

Last month she pleaded guilty in the Manukau District Court to three charges of using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage.

Judge Robert Kerr sentenced her to 18 months' jail on each charge and ordered her to repay $50,000.

Boyce had sought funding for days when the centre was closed.

Some of the children she claimed payment for had never attended, or at best had occasionally visited from another centre in Glen Innes with which Boyce was associated.

Checks of daily rolls showed much lower attendance than was being claimed

By pleading guilty, she avoided four further charges.

Judge Kerr ordered her to begin paying reparations of $100 a week and said she could apply for home detention.

Boyce is now working at a childcare centre in Hawera.

The Education Review Office is aware of the case, and a spokeswoman said its staff would visit the centre to ensure management practices were in order.

Kiddie Kapers Akonga opened in 1997 and is located in a community house owned by the Manukau City Council. An Education Review Office report in 1999 identified serious management problems.