An employee of a Townsville pub has been convicted, again, for crimes relating to a robbery at the hotel she helped arrange.
In December 2015 the Boomerang Hotel in Mackay was held up, with bandits getting away with $41,000.
25-year-old Ngawaiti Hoana Rawhiti was one of the employees tied up during the robbery.
Appearing in Mackay District Court in 2018, the court heard Rawhiti was offered $5000 for information provided to assist the robbery, and played along during the incident, later making a false statement to police.
She was sentenced to four years’ prison, suspended after 16 months.
After the robbery, she had filed a false WorkCover claim stating she was a victim of crime, and received thousands of dollars in workers compensation.
Last week she appeared before Townsville’s Industrial Magistrates Court via video link. Her defence noted her rehabilitation to date, completing certificate courses whilst in prison, and doing volunteer work.
She pleaded guilty to defrauding or attempting to defraud an insurer, and knowingly making a false or misleading statement to an authority, Townsville Bulletin reporting Simona McIlroy of the Office of Industrial Relations describing the acts as a “protracted period of repeated dishonesty”.
Magistrate Ross Mack saw the offences as blatant deceitful double-dipping.
“You get the benefit of the heist, and then you get compensation for doing it.”
A total of $17,865.19 restitution was sought for the ill-gotten compensation, plus $2000 in investigation costs.
Rawhiti, a New Zealand citizen, was sentenced to nine months, suspended for an operational period of two years, ordered to pay restitution and costs, and will be deported from Australia.