Lavington woman fleeced her own son for $10k with false claim he lived with her

This included buying what she wanted from a tobacconist and a supermarket in Lavington.

Some of the money was kept also in a bank account set-up specifically to receive the money from a NSW Trustee and Guardian account.

When her son and his father, who live together in the Bathurst region, found out about the fraud they gave her a call.

Albury Local Court was told on Wednesday, August 30, that the son recorded the conversation.

The woman, who cannot be identified, told them she used her own bank account to receive the trust funds because she "couldn't get hold of yous (sic)".

The father then told her she should not have done what she did, given their son had lived with him since the age of 13.

"You haven't even changed the f---ing AVO (apprehended violence order)," she replied.

"Every time I have tried to discuss it with (the son) he wouldn't talk."

Defence lawyer Rohan Harrison told magistrate Melissa Humphreys that his client had since repaid the whole amount.

Mr Harrison said a community corrections order would be an adequate punishment for the woman's crimes.

"Part of her penalty has been damaging quite considerably her relationship with her son," he said.

"There really isn't any good way of explaining the offending."

Mr Harrison submitted that if the court did not find a community corrections order to be a sufficient penalty, an intensive corrections order - a period of custody spent in the community - could provide "the community protection aspect of the sentence".

The offender, 52, of Union Road, Lavington, previously pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining property by deception and two charges of publishing false or misleading material to obtain property.

The court was told the son, who has an intellectual disability, was the victim of a sexual assault at the age of 12.

"Following the court procedures, the accused lodged an online application for victim's compensation on behalf of the victim, on November 24, 2016," police said.

This was approved and a "recognition payment" of $10,000 was transferred to the NSW Trustee and Guardian, to be held until her son turned 18.

The mother completed and sent a form to the trust on December 3, 2019.

This included a declaration that she had "care and custody" of her son and that she acknowledged any funds transferred to her from the trust would be spent on his "maintenance" and education "and for no other use".

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In May, 2021, she received a letter from the trust stating her son was almost 18 and so she should apply for the recognition payment.

Between May 31 and June 2 she opened an account in her son's name, without his knowledge or consent, then applied and was granted a Visa debit card with her as a signatory.

On June 9, 2021, the woman went to the Lavington library with an unknown man to complete, before a justice of the peace, a declaration of identity form.

To get the required 100 points of identification required she brought along her son's birth certificate, her own Medicare card on which he was named and the Visa card.

She then nominated the NAB account for the funds to be transferred, with this happening on July 13.

"This was a direct result of the fraudulent documents created and submitted by the accused," police said.

The woman then withdrew or spent money from the account up until March, 2022, at various automatic teller machines and Lavington retailers, including Smokemart and Coles.

Ms Humphreys said the offender had committed "serious examples" of what were in themselves serious offences, though acknowledged a sentencing assessment report found she was a "low risk of re-offending".

She placed the woman on a two-year community corrections order with supervision, ordered that she complete 200 hours of unpaid work and convicted and fined her $1000.

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