A former Bay of Plenty lawyer has pleaded guilty in a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) case to fraudulently claiming almost $375,000 from a legal support scheme funded by the Ministry of Justice.
Appearing in Tauranga District Court today, Paulette Main admitted to one representative charge of obtaining by deception and one representative charge of obstructing the SFO’s investigation. Main has indicated she will apply for a discharge without conviction at her sentencing hearing.
Main submitted more than 1200 false claims in relation to 26 clients to the Ministry of Justice’s Family Legal Advice Service (FLAS) between December 2017 and July 2022.
The scheme funds eligible lawyers to give out-of-court advice in Care of Children Act disputes and is intended to assist parties to resolve their disputes without court intervention. Lawyers can claim a fixed fee from the Ministry of Justice for providing services under the scheme. The scheme used a high-trust funding model, which relied on lawyers claiming only amounts they were entitled to.
The offending was discovered after the Ministry of Justice identified several anomalies regarding FLAS claims which led to an audit of her client files.
SFO Director Karen Chang says, “Ms Main’s offending is a serious breach of trust placed in a legal professional. Her offending was deliberate over a long period of time, taking away public funding that should have been used to assist families going through difficult times.”
Most of the 26 clients for whom Main submitted false claims were former clients, giving her easy access to their details. In some cases, she used her involvement in Family Court proceedings to obtain information on other parties and file fraudulent claims in their names. In one instance, she used a deceased person’s details to claim approximately $17,000.
During its investigation, the SFO used its legal powers to require Main to provide information to the SFO which was relevant to the investigation. Main obstructed the SFO’s investigation by failing to respond to the SFO on two occasions.
Chang says, “This case highlights why the SFO prioritises fraud committed by trusted professionals and reinforces our commitment to holding them accountable when they betray that trust for personal gain.”
Main’s application for a discharge without conviction and her sentencing is set down for 7 July 2025 in the Tauranga District Court.
Image credit: Getty Images
More than 1200 fraud claims and she wants to ask the judge for a discharge without conviction? WTF!
Send her down Judge.
Just wondering how this investigation started. Suspect it was repayments of legal aid that alerted the administrators? If so, how dumb is that lawyer?
$375,000 is quite a lot of money to go unnoticed. Perhaps a wider review of the process, checks and balances should now be put in place.