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Dishonest Wage Subsidy Application Leads To Community Detention
A woman has been sentenced to three months’ community detention for fraudulently claiming about $7000 in COVID-19 wage subsidies.
Yasmin Rose Patten appeared for sentencing in the Tauranga District Court on 29 August 2023 having admitted one charge of dishonestly using a document in connection with the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme.
On 6 April 2020, Patten submitted a fraudulent wage subsidy application claiming she was working as a sole trader when she was not. The application was successful and she was paid $7,029.60.
After receiving the funds, Patten made several high-value purchases, including on a $3000 money card from The Warehouse and $2000 spent at a shopping centre in Tauranga.
Judge Christina Cook said Patten needed to be held accountable for her offending given the breach of trust involved.
Patten was sentenced to three months’ community detention, six months’ supervision and ordered to pay $7,029.60 reparation.
More wage subsidy cases in the courts can be found here
More information on MSD’s Wage Subsidy Integrity and Fraud Programme can be found here
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