State house resident with rental properties sentenced

Allan Willkins rented out two properties (top right) while living in a state house. Photos / Sarah Ivey, Martin Sykes

A man who lived in a state house while he rented out two properties of his own has been sentenced for defrauding the taxpayer.

Allan Wilkins was sentenced to five months home detention and 100 hours community work in the Auckland District Court today.

The Housing New Zealand beneficiary had defrauded the taxpayer of over $68,000 and had pleaded guilty to a charge of using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage.

Housing NZ said Wilkins lived in two state houses over a period of three years while he owned properties in Wiri and Papakura, which he rented out during that time.

The $68,494 is the amount of money Housing NZ calculated Wilkins had received as rental subsidies over the three years.

Housing New Zealand lawyer Dale Dufty said the authority would be seeking reparations through a civil court case.

"There has been no offer of reparation and one might think that he has some basis to do so," Mr Dufty said.

Wilkins' lawyer Maurice Coughlan said his client had suffered a brain injury in 1986.

"It clouded his ability to understand fully what was going on at home," Mr Coughlan said.

Judge David Wilson, QC, said the brain injury was examined and a neuro-psychiatry report prepared for the court showed that the injury had a "mild to moderate" effect on Wilkins who also underwent tests.

"But in five out of the eight measures, you performed in the normal range," Judge Wilson said.

He said Wilkins' offending meant those in need of state housing were left on a waiting list.

Outside court, Housing New Zealand's manager of investigations Kane Patena said the authority was pleased with the sentence.

"We will not tolerate people who abuse the system and those that do can expect to be held accountable," Mr Patena said.

He said a family in need had been denied a state house while Wilkins took advantage of the system.

"It is completely unacceptable," Mr Patena said.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years' jail.

Wilkins lived in flat 4c at 15 City Rd in the heart of the CBD, then at a large Orakei state property.

The Orakei house at 20 Te Arawa St is surrounded by the country's most expensive collection of state houses. QV lists the house's value as $660,000.

During the three years that Wilkins was living in the two Housing NZ Corporation places and receiving big rent subsidies, he also owned 149 Browns Rd at Wiri and 2 Sheehan Ave in Papakura.

The Wiri property is valued at $260,000 and the Papakura house is estimated at $200,000.

According to Housing New Zealand, as of November 30, 2009, there were 5723 families waiting for a home. Of those, 1241 were requiring a three bedroom home.

Mr Patena said that since a review of Housing New Zealand's investigations processes was carried out two years ago, the number of fraud cases the authority has before the courts has increased seven-fold.

"Housing New Zealand now has over 70 cases of tenant related fraud before the court. So far this year over 60 tenancies have been terminated and $3.7m in debt has been identified for recovery," Mr Patena said.

He said investigations of fraud occur in less than one per cent of state tenancies.