An elderly man who stole the identities of dead children to
con taxpayers out of $450,000 in a rare type of benefit fraud
says he gave no thought to how their families would feel.
Colin Diedrichs remained undetected for more than 20 years as
he claimed extra superannuation payments using the details of
two boys who died decades ago.
The long-running rort has been described as "methodical,
determined and deliberate'' and he was arrested in November
after a joint investigation by the Department of Internal
Affairs, the Ministry of Social Development and police.
The 82-year-old has since pleaded guilty to 20 criminal
charges, including use of a document to obtain a pecuniary
advantage and false representation under two different names.
The theft is one of the largest benefit frauds uncovered and
Diedrichs will be sentenced in the Auckland District Court in
March.
The retired gardener was reluctant to comment when approached
at his bail address in Epsom.
"To get more money I suppose,'' was his response when asked
why he stole the identities of the children.
Questioned further about how the families of the young boys
would feel, Diedrichs said: "I didn't really think about it,
to be honest.''
The use of stolen identities of dead children is similar to
how former Act MP David Garrett obtained a false passport.
Inspired by spy novel The Day of the Jackal, Garrett visited
a cemetery in 1984 and found the gravestone of a 2-year-old
boy, whose birthdate was close to his own.
He copied the details, obtained the child's birth
certificate, filled out a passport application and
photographed himself in disguise.
Garrett was arrested in 2005 - before he entered Parliament -
and resigned in disgrace in September 2010 when suppression
orders were lifted to reveal his conviction for passport
forgery.
The identity theft was described in court documents as "akin
to stealing from the grave'' by the dead child's mother.
Mike Smith, head of the Ministry of Social Development fraud
unit, was pleased Diedrichs had admitted his guilt and
conceded that what he did was "wrong and totally
unacceptable''. He said the case was "rare and cannot happen
today''.
"To commit an offence of this nature would require a person
to go to extraordinary lengths in creating and carrying out a
calculated plan which was methodical, determined and
deliberate.
"We are constantly reviewing our controls and they are
considerably stronger today than 20 years ago.''
He said the ministry had worked with the police asset
recovery team to freeze just over $350,000 in cash and assets
from Diedrichs. The money is the subject of ongoing court
proceedings.
Benefit fraud cost taxpayers a record $22.6 million last year
and nine social welfare staff were sacked for ripping off the
system.
- Jared Savage of the NZ Herald
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