A WERRIBEE woman has been convicted of defrauding Centrelink of nearly $15,000 in falsely claimed welfare.
Meliame Veikoso, 45, last week pleaded guilty to obtaining financial advantage after Centrelink found she had been claiming a carer’s payment to which she knew she was not entitled.
Werribee Magistrates Court heard that the mother-of-two had made 37 false declarations to Centrelink between September 2009 and March last year.
According to the Department of Human Services, Veikoso did not tell Centrelink that she had been employed on a casual basis during that period, in which she earned about $65,000 but declared that she had earned $10,800.
The court heard that Centrelink had reminded Veikoso of her obligation to advise about any change in circumstances and to report income and employment hours every fortnight.
Department of Public Prosecutions spokeswoman Kathy Medved said the fraud had been picked up by Centrelink’s data-matching system, which compares information on clients with other federal agencies and government departments.
Veikoso admitted she had knowingly lied to Centrelink, but said she did so because her family had been in tough financial circumstances.
She was convicted and, having already had more than $3000 deducted from ongoing payments, was ordered to repay Centrelink $11,790 plus costs.
She was also fined $500 and put on a two-year good behaviour bond.
