Case against greedy granny delayed due to internal bleeding
A case against a grandmother who scammed Centrelink of $137,000 is delayed, after it was revealed she may be suffering internal bleeding.
Penrith
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The case against a Padstow grandmother who scammed Centrelink out of $137,000 has been adjourned after the court heard she may have internal bleeding.
Rebecca Assie, 62, appeared before Penrith Court today for sentencing, after pleading guilty in April to running a fraud syndicate helping people falsely claim $137,000 in carer payments and coaching them on how to get doctors and psychologists to fill out the medical reports required by the welfare agency.
Court documents reveal the alleged lengths Assie and her late husband Abu Ali went to secure welfare payments for other people from February 2013 to September 2015.
Officers from the Australian Federal Police raided Ms Assie’s home in September 2013 and found, in a locked safe hidden in a bedroom floor, 25 bundles of $50 notes totalling $244, 950.
In 2017 it was also revealed that for 21 years Assie had pretended to be blind in order to receive disability payments, fraudulently receiving more than $200,000.
In court it was revealed that two documents were tendered yesterday, one claiming Assie requires blood transfusions and medication to treat a blood clot which she suffered in 2015. The other document claimed that Assie suffers from anaemia, which doctors believe could possibly be caused by internal bleeding.
The defence revealed that Assie’s doctor has recommended she undertake surgery, which has been scheduled for September 30.
Judge Graham Turnbull questioned the reason the documents were only tendered the night before sentencing, given Assie pleaded guilty in April and the defence has had more than two months to present the information.
Mr Turnbull also brought into question the fact that the documents state Assie had twice been offered the chance to undertake surgery in the past and both times declined.
“The document itself creates unease,” he said.
“There is not a single other document in this case that explains her medical condition in detail.”
The matter was adjourned for a week until September 6 for more information to be gathered. Judge Turnbull said that he “would not wait the matter to be held until October and the community should not have to wait until October”, stating sentencing will be made next Friday.
Assie is facing up 13 years in jail.