Fraudster to pay back $19k

At $20 a week Kiley Ataretta Laris, 32, will take 18 years to repay the money she stole from Work and Income.

It will take Kiley Ataretta Laris 18 years to repay the money she stole from Work and Income at $20 per week.

The 32-year-old, of Masterton, appeared in Masterton District Court before Judge Jan Kelly for sentencing over benefit fraud of nearly $20,000.

Laris had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of wilful omission. While receiving sickness benefits between September 2008 and December 2012, she failed to advise that she was working at four different times, receiving $19,499.80 in overpayments.

Prosecutor Anitesh Govind said Laris was caught through information sharing between the Ministry of Social Development and Inland Revenue.

Since the fraud was discovered, Laris had been repaying her debt at $20 per week, he said.

Lawyer Virginia Pearson said Laris was a mother-of-three and cared of her grandmother.

Judge Kelly convicted Laris and sentenced her to six months' community detention with a daily curfew between 7pm and 7am, 12 months' supervision with a special condition to undertake gambling, family violence and budgeting counselling, and to 120 hours' community work. She also ordered Laris to pay reparation of $18,500.

Meanwhile, Kathleen Emily Albrett-Rimene, 43, of Masterton, appeared before the registrar facing three counts of using a document for pecuniary advantage. The charges relate to three periods when she signed renewal forms for benefits claiming she wasn't working when she allegedly was employed, September 21, 2010, May 23, 2012 and May 23, 2013.

She was remanded without plea and is due back in court on November 27 to plead to the charges.