A former Windang woman who defrauded Centrelink of more than $100,000 in carer's payments has narrowly avoided jail.
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Yasmin Lee Giffiths, 30, was lambasted in Wollongong Local Court after she admitted to claiming money she was not entitled to over seven years.
Griffiths obtained higher carer payments from the Department of Human Services, now known as Services Australia, than she was entitled to receive between September 6, 2012 and August 19, 2019.
Griffiths received more money than she should have for 182 fortnights because she either reported less, nil or failed to submit her income.
Magistrate Gabriel Fleming told Griffiths, who now lives in Broken Hill and works as a nurse, that her actions were "against all of us because you are taking what you are not entitled to".
"This is about leaving enough in the pot to protect the vulnerable and needy," she said. "It is for people who are sick, need a carer, have a disability and can't get a job.
"You ripped off, to the tune of $100,000, someone else at the other end. It is completely unacceptable.
"You didn't need it...You kept taking the money. It is absolutely appalling.
"It was not one mistake. You made 182 false declarations every fortnight.
"This is a serious act of dishonesty over a very long period of time.
"Every single cent will be paid back to the government so it can be given to someone else who needs a carer."
Documents tendered to court revealed on January 22, 2009, the department approved Griffiths' eligibility to receive the carer payment for looking after her mother who suffered from multiple sclerosis and attention deficit disorder.
From 2012 to 2019 Griffiths was employed on a casual, then part-time, basis with Catholic Healthcare Limited where she earnt an average of $1560 gross income per fortnight.
Griffiths under-declared her income on 98 occasions via the internet and in person.
Between October 15, 2015 and June 9, 2016 she made 18 false declarations of nil income.
On August 19, 2015, Griffiths was advised by the department in writing that she owed a debt of $30,429 for the period of July 13, 2012 to June 26, 2014.
She accepted this debt, and recovery commenced with withholding payments made.
On June 23, 2016 Griffiths was sent a letter stating, as her circumstances changed, she no was longer required to report her income every two weeks to get paid unless she started working again.
However, Griffiths did not report any further income or employment to the department.
The department continued to believe she was eligible for carer payments at the full rate.
In total, Griffiths earned $284,088 gross income from employment. She only declared $45,022 to the department.
Griffiths received $141,601 in social security benefits but she was only eligible to receive $34,868, amounting to an overpayment of $106,733.
Griffiths' fraud came under notice through data-matching and income averaging undertaken by the Australian Taxation Office and criminal proceedings started on September 10 last year.
In the form of withholding payments, Griffiths has paid back $21,065. She no longer receives benefits but has made at least $200 fortnightly repayments since.
In April, she pleaded guilty to three charges of obtaining a financial advantage by deception and two counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage.
In court, Griffiths' lawyer Suzanna Martinez submitted her client pleaded guilty at the fist opportunity despite only being detected by a data matching system.
Ms Martinez also said Griffiths had paid back more than $20,000 which was significant for her means and asked Magistrate Fleming to let Griffiths serve her term of imprisonment in the community because of her age, her positive contribution to the community through her work and her remorse.
Magistrate Fleming acknowledged Griffiths took full responsibility for her conduct and was previously a person of good character with no prior criminal record.
Griffiths was sentenced to an intensive corrections order for 18 months and she must complete 150 hours of community service.
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