The wife of the former chief executive of West Coast coal mine developer Bathurst Resources is facing a jail term in Western Australia, having pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming more than $A65,000 ($NZ66,600) in social security payments.
Plunging global coal prices left Bathurst struggling to generate adequate cashflows from domestic coal sales and it has been cutting costs for the past 18 months, with chief executive Hamish Bohannan resigning from Bathurst a month ago.
His wife Julie Bohannan (42) appeared in the Perth District Court on Thursday, where she pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming social security payments, which had started before she moved in with Mr Bohannan in 2004 and continued through to 2009, The West Australian reported yesterday.
From 2004 to 2009, Mr Bohannan had earned almost $A3.8 million.
Prosecutor Sarah Oliver told the court the offence was a ''sustained, deliberate fraud motivated by greed with a high level of deception''.
Defence lawyer David Edwardson said Mrs Bohannan had repaid the money in 2010.
He said she had a chronic depressive illness, having cared for her disabled daughter for many years, The West Australian reported.
Mrs Bohannan is to be sentenced next month.
