Fraud investigator in benefit swindle
He was meant to be investigating benefit frauds for the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) – but Nabjeet Singh was instead carrying out his own.
Singh, 48, of Upper Hutt, created four fake identities, including children, to get invalid benefits worth almost $360,000 over the course of 12 years.
Judge Peter Hobbs, in Wellington District Court yesterday, said Singh accessed ministry records to alter the phone numbers of his fictitious beneficiaries, and accessed its computer system to allow payments to be made to them.
‘‘Your offending cannot be categorised as anything less than serious fraud,’’ he told Singh as he sentenced him to two years and nine months in jail after he had pleaded guilty to 51 counts of fraud, including 41 charges of using a document for pecuniary advantage.
He said Singh’s offending involved a significant degree of pre-meditation.
Singh created addresses in the Hutt Valley, dates of birth, names and variations of names, IRD numbers, bank accounts, a post office box, false children and schools, and cellphones numbers.
Singh accessed MSD’s computer systems to recommend, authenticate and grant numerous payments to the false identities. He obtained about $358,866 worth of funds that he was not entitled to.
Singh began working at MSD in 1990 in various roles from cus- tomer service to helpline adviser and case manager. He began working in compliance in July 2003.
Between 2004 and 2011, he worked as a field officer and investigator, roles that involved investigating and prosecuting benefit fraud. He resigned in August 2011. An anonymous tipoff led MSD to investigate his case. It uncovered the fraud and began inquiries with other government departments.
Immigration NZ confirmed that none of the four identities was recorded on its database, and none had ever applied for a visa to enter the country.
Internal Affairs also confirmed that none of the identities had New Zealand citizenship.
The Ministry of Education confirmed none of the children connected to it were on its database, while Births, Deaths and Marriages had no records of them. Schools where the children were supposed to be enrolled showed no sign of them.
The Crown recovered about $260,000 from the sale of a house.
Singh’s lawyer Robert Lithgow, QC, argued for home detention instead of a prison sentence. ‘‘He accepts as an employee this should not have happened.’’
Police said in a statement last night that the sentence of two years and nine months reflected the seriousness of Singh’s offending.
‘‘The message is clear: if any persons attempt to profit from crime, they risk the loss of their assets.’’