SUSTENANCE FRAUDS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19337, 29 May 1937, Page 3

SUSTENANCE FRAUDS

USE OF FALSE NAMES FINES IN CITY COURT (Special to tlifi Herald.) AUCKLAND, this day. A warning that in future false declarations made deliberately to obtain benefits under the Employment Promotion Act would be met by substantial fines was given 'by Mr. C. R. Ori' Walker, S.M.. in the Magistrates Court yesterday, when seven men. were, prosecuted by the ' Labour Department, for offences'of that- kind. The magistrate said that men were making false declarations for the purpose pf getting more money than they were entitled to "and the Labour Department was put to a great deal of«.troublo." As the men paid their fines out of the sustenance funds, they themselves did not suffer, although their wives and children did.

All the defendants were fined the amounts they had been paid in excess of what they were, entitled to receive from the department. Posts were added to each case. W., H. Bennett, who made five false declarations and obtained £6 6s 9d. was lined £7. It was stated he had been employed casually on the waterfront and had received £4 a week for casual work in the railway poods shed. A fine of .C6B was imposed on El. Delaney, who obtained £6? 15s 5d as a result of 28 false declarations, lie was described as a. married man with four children and was receiving sustenance of £2 11s a week and a war pension of £1 a, week. Another married man. T. Cl. Hughes, on sustenance of £1 ]ss a week, who obtained £lB 4s lid by 14 false declarations, was filled £2O. In the case of 11. E. McVeigh, who was fined £4l for obtaining £4O 10s 6d by means of 31 false 'declarations, it was stated' that ho had been warned twice before for making false declarations, lie had worked on the wharves under another name and it was stated that lie had adopted the alias after being warned. Another waterside worker, K. Soifur. who made five false declarations and obtained £4, was fined £5. He also was stated' to have been working under an assumed name, and was discovered when a check on the levy hooks was made. A fine of £l4 was imposed on W. It. Sutton, who obtained £l3 9s by making 13 false declarations. He had casual work on the wharves and between December 1935 and April 1937 declared his earnings as nil, or only small sums. K. Viskovich, wlio obtained £3O 5s by making 19, false declarations, was fined £3l. Ho was stated to be married with three children ami on sustenance of £2 7s a week. The magistrate stated that if the defendants wished, to pay the fines by instalments they could make application to him in chambers.