Fa’alele Samoa Kaisami deceived the Government for 15 years, receiving more than $290,000 in benefits she was not entitled to.
Her deception continued until the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) unravelled it and confronted her.
Kaisami has now admitted what she had done and been warned she could be jailed.
Kaisami, 49, a call centre operator, made a brief appearance on Thursday at the Christchurch District Court on charges of obtaining by deception, using documents dishonestly and using forged documents.
Judge Jane Farish ordered a full pre-sentence report and remanded Kaisami to March 2027 for sentencing, warning her the MSD’s loss was significant and imprisonment was a possibility.
According to the summary of facts, Kaisami was married and pregnant with her first child when she applied for an unemployment benefit in 2009.
But she told authorities she was single.
She transferred to a sickness benefit in October 2009 and also received an accommodation supplement and temporary additional support.
After her first child was born, Kaisami was paid at the sole-parent rate and three months later was granted a domestic purposes benefit after claiming she had been separated from her husband since February 2009.
She continued to receive the benefit after her second child was born.
Between 2012 and 2022, Kaisami repeatedly sought reviews and renewals of her entitlements while maintaining she was single. In 2021 and 2022, she also dishonestly stated her address and accommodation costs.
She received sole parent support after dishonest online applications between 2013 and 2019.
Kaisami also repeatedly applied for temporary additional support despite her husband living at the home and working fulltime.
The summary of facts showed Kaisami applied for non-taxable extra assistance eight times between 2014 and 2022, having also submitted five reapplication forms between 2009 and 2016.
By February 2024, the deception extended to false letters.
Kaisami submitted a personal details form purportedly from “Michael Collins”, identified as the landlord of a Christchurch property. It claimed she had rented the property for several months and was a good tenant who paid her rent in cash.
The letter also claimed the tenancy could not be extended for insurance reasons.
Investigators established the property owner had not written the letter. While Kaisami and her husband had previously lived there, they had moved out four years earlier.
When authorities confronted Kaisami in September 2025, she admitted she had not disclosed her true circumstances when applying for benefits and supplementary assistance.
Investigators established Kaisami had never separated from her husband and had lived with him and their children throughout the offending.
Over the 15 years, Kaisami received $290,997 in benefit overpayments, spanning sole parent support, accommodation supplements, domestic purposes and sickness benefits, temporary additional support and other assistance.
Kaisami received MSD payments almost continuously between 2009 and 2024, with only two breaks — from March to July 2018 and January to March 2023.
