Disgraced NZ Olympic athlete accused of welfare fraud in US

Former New Zealand Olympian Liza HunterGalvan 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 Olympics, but was banned from competition for two years in 2009 after she was found to have taken banned blood-boosting drug EPO.

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

On Tuesday, in Hunter-Galvan’s home town of San Antonio, Texas, reported she had been indicted for welfare fraud and accused of receiving US$64,000 in benefits while living in a US$500,000 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 stamps and Medicaid benefits “while making a substantial income and owning a 3700sq ft house”.

An indictment claimed she collected welfare benefits from 2012 to 2016.

“The allegations were welfare fraud, so basically she is collecting . . . money when there were other streams of income,” said Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood.

An investigator claims Galvan deposited more than US$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. LaHood said that was because an agreement was reached for Hunter-Galvan to pay US$10,000 in restitution.

Asked why his office did not insist HunterGalvan pay back the full amount to taxpayers, LaHood said: “You have restitution hearings and even though you want to get every penny back to taxpayers you have to prove it.”

LaHood blamed the state’s Office of Inspector General, which investigated the case, of not giving him enough evidence to prosecute. “Unfortunately . . . 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.”