An Auckland man who wrongly used nearly $200,000 of the Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme on gambling, adult entertainment and fast food will remain in jail, after he failed to have his sentence converted to home detention.
Last month, Nathan Downey was sentenced to 20 and a half months’ imprisonment by Judge Mina Wharepouri at the Manukau District Court.
At the sentencing, Judge Wharepouri said the offending involved a high level of planning and premeditation, with Downey taking “whole hog advantage” of the system.
Downey appealed against his sentence, submitting to the High Court, the judge had failed to recognise his remorse, rehabilitative efforts and how all the money had all been paid back.
PROBLEM GAMBLING FOUNDATION
Nathan Downey spent some of the money on online gambling.
At the High Court, Downey’s lawyer Claire Farquhar said the judge had erred in dismissing the argument that his rehabilitation was best completed in the community.
The Ministry of Social Development opposed the appeal.
On Friday, Justice Layne Harvey released his decision dismissing the appeal.
Justice Harvey said the sentence was not manifestly excessive nor wrong in principle.
“His [Judge Wharepouri’s] comments on denunciation and deterrence are coloured by his previous discussion of the threats to community cohesion by this type of offending and the breach of the reliance placed by the State on applicants to act honestly when accessing the scheme (or schemes such as this),” Justice Harvey said.
Downey’s offending involved repeated dishonesty of a system designed to help those most in need during an unprecedented time, Justice Harvey said.
The offending
Between March 23 and August 23, 2020, Downey submitted 19 fraudulent wage subsidy applications for Protective Systems Limited (PSL), a company he was the sole director and shareholder of.
Downey had named several people as employees on the applications, however MSD found that PSL had no employees and some of those people did not even exist.
Of those applications, 13 were successful and Downey obtained $196,076.
PSL’s bank statements showed it payd $74,363.73 to contractors during those moneths and about $17,896.15 went into his personal bank account.
Downey sent the remaining $121,712.27 on some company use but also on online gambling, adult entertainment clubs and fast food.
Between March and June 2020, Downey was also receiving the wage subsidy as a full-time employee of a company run by his mother.