Mother received $68,000 with ‘carer support’ scam

A WOMAN scammed the Ministry of Health out of $68,000 over the care of her disabled children, a court has heard.

Kirsten Carol Anne Anderson (62) had since settled the debt by borrowing money from family, counsel Steve Turner told the Dunedin District Court yesterday.

She would have to pay them off over time, he said.

The ministry supports fulltime carers for the disabled in a scheme called ‘‘carer support’’.

It allows someone to come in and replace the primary carer for several hours to give them a break.

In July 2012, Anderson began filing false forms which claimed ‘‘Kate McColl’’ had provided respite care in her place and been paid for it.

She forged the woman’s signature and the ministry reimbursed her dozens of times over more than seven years.

The court heard Anderson even continued the ruse when the real Kate McColl was in Christchurch and later when she had moved to Melbourne.

The defendant also used other identities of legitimate carers, totalling 72 false applications over nine years.

‘‘There was a considerable degree of planning and sophistication,’’ Judge Michael Turner said.

‘‘The system for the ministry is reliant on the honesty of those using it and you abused that trust.’’

Anderson said it had actually been her mother who had been caring for her children when she needed a break, and the money from the ministry had gone to her.

However, the judge said some of the claims the defendant had made had come after her mother’s death.

It was ‘‘a conscious decision to cheat the system’’, he said.

Anderson had earlier been denied a discharge without conviction.

The fact she would end up with a criminal record was stern punishment in itself, Mr Turner said.

‘‘There’s a considerable sense of shame there . . . the stigma for her is very real,’’ he said.

Anderson was sentenced to a month’s community detention at a Christchurch address, 200 hours’ community work and nine months’ supervision.

‘‘She says community work is something she can see as giving back to the people she defrauded,’’ Mr Turner said.