Post by Banker on Feb 10, 2012 10:07:23 GMT 7
An elderly woman has been jailed for defrauding Centrelink of nearly $47,000.
Wilma June Szabo, 78, admitted to eight fraud charges in Adelaide Magistrates Court.
The pensioner failed to declare an income from her job at a cosmetics retailer over almost six years.
"It was clearly an oversight on my part," she told the court.
"There were times when I had filed in my reports and nothing was done about them."
Centrelink paid her $46,756.38 she was not entitled to.
Magistrate Jayanthi McGrath told Szabo her offending was deliberate and prolonged.
She said it had occurred while the woman was before the courts on similar charges, for which she was given a suspended jail sentence.
"You describe it as a silly phase of your life when you weren't thinking straight," the magistrate said.
"You do not acknowledge that gambling was an issue. You insist you have not gambled beyond your means.
"You gamble on the poker machines but only about $100 at a time, which is within your means."
Prison hard
The magistrate held out hope Szabo could be rehabilitated but said prison would be hard for her.
"It is hard to see your current offending, in light of your previous offending, as anything other than a complete disregard for the law," the magistrate said.
"Your offending was deliberate, prolonged and serious."
But she considered Szabo's prospects of rehabilitation were positive.
"You have not offended since 2007 and you are committed to repaying the money you owe," she said.
"In my view a sentence of imprisonment is the only appropriate punishment. Despite your good health and industrious nature, prison won't be easy for you."
Szabo is to serve two months in prison before her release on a two-year $500 bond.
She said she was committed to repaying the money owed and was doing so at about $150 per fortnight, but it was proving hard because she did not have a job.
"As a result of the media being here last time, I lost my job," she told the magistrate.
www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-10/centrelink-defraud-szabo-jailed/3822794
Wilma June Szabo, 78, admitted to eight fraud charges in Adelaide Magistrates Court.
The pensioner failed to declare an income from her job at a cosmetics retailer over almost six years.
"It was clearly an oversight on my part," she told the court.
"There were times when I had filed in my reports and nothing was done about them."
Centrelink paid her $46,756.38 she was not entitled to.
Magistrate Jayanthi McGrath told Szabo her offending was deliberate and prolonged.
She said it had occurred while the woman was before the courts on similar charges, for which she was given a suspended jail sentence.
"You describe it as a silly phase of your life when you weren't thinking straight," the magistrate said.
"You do not acknowledge that gambling was an issue. You insist you have not gambled beyond your means.
"You gamble on the poker machines but only about $100 at a time, which is within your means."
Prison hard
The magistrate held out hope Szabo could be rehabilitated but said prison would be hard for her.
"It is hard to see your current offending, in light of your previous offending, as anything other than a complete disregard for the law," the magistrate said.
"Your offending was deliberate, prolonged and serious."
But she considered Szabo's prospects of rehabilitation were positive.
"You have not offended since 2007 and you are committed to repaying the money you owe," she said.
"In my view a sentence of imprisonment is the only appropriate punishment. Despite your good health and industrious nature, prison won't be easy for you."
Szabo is to serve two months in prison before her release on a two-year $500 bond.
She said she was committed to repaying the money owed and was doing so at about $150 per fortnight, but it was proving hard because she did not have a job.
"As a result of the media being here last time, I lost my job," she told the magistrate.
www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-10/centrelink-defraud-szabo-jailed/3822794
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