Disgraced Kiwi Olympian indicted in the United States for welfare fraud

Liza Hunter-Galvan celebrates winning the 2016 Rotorua Marathon.

Disgraced New Zealand Olympian Liza Hunter-Galvan has been accused of welfare fraud in the United States, where she has lived since the 1980s.

Hunter-Galvan, 48, represented New Zealand in the women's marathon at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympic games, but was banned from competition for two years in 2009 after she was found to have taken banned blood-boosting drug EPO.

"I'm sorry if I disappointed people. I made a terrible mistake,'' Hunter-Galvan said at the time.

She subsequently won Rotorua marathon several times, most recently in 2016.

On Tuesday, News 4 San Antonio, a news site in Hunter-Galvan's home town of San Antonio, Texas, reported that she had been indicted for welfare fraud and accused of receiving $US64,000 in benefits while living in a half-million-dollar house.

However, reporter Jaie Avila discovered that she had been allowed to pay back a fraction of the amount in restitution after an allegedly botched investigation.

The state of Texas alleged she unlawfully received food stamp and Medicaid benefits "while making a substantial income and owning a 3,700 square-foot house".

Galvan is also a two-time winner of the Rock 'n Roll Marathon in San Antonio.
An indictment claimed she collected welfare benefits from 2012 to 2016.

"The allegations were welfare fraud, so basically she is collecting, the individual, the defendant was collecting money when there were other streams of income," said Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood.

An investigator claims Galvan deposited more than $600,000 into multiple accounts during that period.

The news site said Hunter-Galvan did not respond to requests for an interview, but that court records showed the case against her was dismissed earlier this month. District Attorney Nico LaHood says an agreement was reached for Galvan to pay $10,000 in restitution.

Jaie Avila asked LaHood why his office did not insist Galvan pay back the full amount to taxpayers.

"Well you have restitution hearings and even though you want to get every penny back to taxpayers you have to prove it," LaHood responded.

LaHood blames the state's Office of Inspector General, which investigated the case, of not giving him enough evidence to prosecute.

"Unfortunately the investigation wasn't the way we wanted it, I mean we work with our law enforcement partners, I am not trying to be disrespectful to any of them but in this case, there were key pieces of evidence that were not kept, they were not preserved and that's important for us to move forward."

The OIG, which investigates welfare fraud cases, defended itself in a statement saying:
"The Office of Inspector General conducted a complete investigation of Ms. Galvan and provided the information to the district attorney's office. The OIG supports the DA in their mission to prosecute fraud, waste and abuse, and OIG investigators are available throughout the legal process to provide any further information that is requested."