Frankston granny Kimberley Castles bankrolled miracle IVF birth via Centrelink rort
A Frankston granny who gave birth at 51 via IVF treatment bankrolled by a dole rort also didn’t declare the cash she earned through multiple media deals.
South East
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A Frankston granny who gave birth at 51 following expensive IVF treatment has been nabbed rorting Centrelink.
Kimberley Castles, 55, pleaded guilty in the County Court on Tuesday to three charges of obtaining a financial advantage by deception from a Commonwealth entity.
Castles rorted $70,327 from Centrelink between August 2011 and March 2018.
The serial dole-cheat swindled her ill-gotten dough via bogus disability, carer and single parent payments.
Castles systematically lied to Centrelink about her relationship status with now ex-partner Greg Castles.
Castles claimed she separated from Greg various times during the offending period.
In reality the pair we’re living it on the taxpayer dime and Greg’s full-time wages.
The court was also told Castles owned her Frankston home and a property in Queensland.
The Castles also made the most of their Wyndham Vacation Resorts Finance membership credits jetsetting around the country to locales such as Surfers Paradise.
Castles, who often went by her alias ‘Camille Pennel’, also owned a Citroen C4 SX Hatchback.
The couple made headlines in 2016 after Castles fell pregnant at age 51 via IVF treatment.
According to media reports, Castles gave birth after she received an egg donor in exchange for a financial reward.
The court was told the couple appeared on 60 Minutes then later in an edition of Woman’s Day after their daughter was born in July 2016.
The Castles were paid $5000 for their 60 Minutes appearance but failed to report this income to Centrelink.
Castles also failed to report the $4600 she earned for the Women’s Day article Australia’s most modern family: How a stranger gave this grandma a baby at 51.
The dole-bludging granny unsurprisingly came to the attention of Centrelink a month after the Women’s Day article hit shelves via an anonymous tip-off.
Castles declined an invitation for a “formal interview” with Centrelink and the matter was kicked on to Commonwealth prosecutors.
It was submitted Castles’ offending was done in the “context” of a “very dysfunctional, and at times, abusive relationship” with Greg.
The court was told Greg has a gambling problem and he now lives in Forest Hill after the couple legitimately split up in 2018.
However, the court heard how Castles was jailed in 2009 for similar welfare offences.
Judge Trevor Wraight extended Castles’ bail for sentencing on December 7.
