The government spent billions propping up the economy during efforts to hold back the virus which causes Covid-19. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
A Waikato man who falsely claimed nearly $200,000 in Covid-19 support payments and loans has been sentenced to home detention.
Jarryd Delroy Hector's scheme unravelled when Inland Revenue (IRD) started looking into his finances in 2022, by which time he had received $53,400 in payments, which it said have still not been repaid.
Up until February 2021, Hector was a self-employed contractor in the property management sector, IRD said on Thursday.
He then found employment - but applied for four Resurgence Support Payments anyway, claiming he was running a business that had suffered a revenue hit due to the government's efforts to contain the spread of the virus.
Hector said he would use the money on business expenses only, despite not having a business.
In 2022 he applied for several Covid Support Payments and two Small Business Cashflow Scheme loans.
When the IRD began investigating, he told them he could not remember how the money was spent, and had kept no records. Nor did he provide any income tax or GST returns.
"However, an analysis of Hector's bank accounts showed he 'invented' his income and expenses," the IRD said. "Both income and expenses were overstated, causing significant tax discrepancies."
All up he falsely tried to claim $196,453.36 in payments and loans, of which he received just over a quarter.
"The offending was repetitive and premeditated and amounts to theft from the community," IRD said.
The Te Kauwhata local was sentenced in the Manukau District Court earlier this week on 16 charges, and will serve 11 months' home detention and do 150 hours community service.
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