Benefit fraudster sentenced
An Invercargill man who received more than $18,000 in benefit payments that he wasn’t entitled to has been sentenced to home detention.
Rex Norman Charles Philpot, 47, labourer, appeared before Judge Bernadette Farnan in the Invercargill District Court on Friday.
He had earlier admitted two charges of using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage and one of obtaining by deception.
The charges related to benefit fraud, where Philpot did not tell the Ministry of Social Development about changes to his income or work situation between December 2013 and January 2016.
In an interview with the ministry in 2015, Philpot said he was aware of his obligations but had had difficulties with the contact centre.
He also acknowledged there were times he did not declare his income because of the hours he was working.
He also said he often worked nights and was tired and fatigued.
Philpot’s lawyer John Fraser called for Philpot to be sentenced to home detention because his financial situation was ‘‘dire’’ and he was the full-time carer for his 75-year-old mother and his 5-yearold niece.
Judge Farnan sentenced Philpot to two months’ home detention and 100 hours’ community work.
She also ordered him to repay the $18,305.33 owed to the ministry at a rate of $20 a week.